


You Matter To Me

by myownpersonaldemons



Series: Here Comes A Thought [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Again by previous boyfriend, Alternate Universe Melding, Angst, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Issues, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Legal battles, Multi, POV Second Person, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Insert, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Soulmates, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, Unhealthy Relationships, Unplanned Pregnancy, You have a cat, by an ex-boyfriend, named Egg, not by any of the skeletons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2020-08-13 22:39:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 87,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20181877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myownpersonaldemons/pseuds/myownpersonaldemons
Summary: Life just has this way of kicking you while your down, but this time you've got enough skeletons in your closet to help you back onto your feet, so when your boyfriend cheats on you, you really don't think it can get any worse....right?(On Hiatus)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816140) by [Tyrant_Tortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrant_Tortoise/pseuds/Tyrant_Tortoise). 

You woke to a sore back, puffy eyes, raw throat, and an ache in your SOUL. Only one of those was the consequence of sleeping on the couch, the rest were caused by the reasons _why_ you were sleeping on the couch. Not even your own, either. Hell, you’d feel better if it _was_ your own couch. You carefully untangled yourself from the thin throw blanket you snuggled with before sneaking to the bathroom.

After splashing your face with cold water, you debated sneaking out before they woke up. There would be way too many questions that you didn’t want to answer if they did wake up before you were gone. It was still early enough that you might be able to get out before even the earliest of risers woke up. First, however, you wanted to clean up the little mess you made of the couch. You didn’t regularly drink, but you did last night, and there were a few cans on the table. Before you could start your quick cleaning, a heavy hand dropping on your shoulder pulled a squeak from your lips.

“HUMAN. WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?” Edge’s voice was still loud, even if it was five-thirty in the morning. You spun around, hands rising up, forcing a smile on your face. He had gone to sleep before you had left, along with Blue and Papyrus as they all had set sleep schedules. Maybe you could lie to him? Sneak out before the others woke up? You opened your mouth, a lie ready on your lips, but his eye sockets narrowed, and your voice died in your throat. His eyes were already roaming around downstairs. The blanket on the couch, your puffy eyes, the cans. “HMPF. YOU WILL HELP ME WITH BREAKFAST FOR THE OTHERS SINCE YOU MADE THIS MESS,” he gestured vaguely to the couch. You quickly gathered up the cans under his watchful stare.

“I…sure but-“ you started, but your throat was still sore. It hurt worse than if you had allowed yourself to openly sob…but you didn’t want to wake the skeletons who were all sleeping when you snuck back into their house last night.

He sighed heavily, a hint of a growl at the end as he dragged you into the kitchen. “YOU SOUND LIKE YOU SWALLOWED RAZOR WIRE,” he complained, “I HAVE HEARD THAT TEA HELPS HUMANS WITH AILMENTS LIKE THAT. I SUPPOSE IF I AM TO HAVE ANY SORT OF CONVERSATION WITH YOU, I MUST MAKE YOU SOME.”

You didn’t bother talking, just nodded softly. Edge’s eye sockets narrowed again, but he turned to start the kettle. As he did that, you checked the cupboards for inspiration to make the others breakfast. Most likely Edge would have an idea already and would refuse to do anything else, but you didn’t want to just stand around and let your mind wander. The two of you were silent, and when you pulled down a loaf of bread and glanced over at him, he was studying you. Immediately, he straightened stiffly and looked back at the tea options. “WE ARE ALL OUT OF SEA TEA,” he said, and you resisted the urge to sigh thankfully. Sea Tea was the worst, way too salty. “DO YOU WANT EARL GREY OR ANY OF THESE OTHER PITIFUL HUMAN TEAS?”

You gestured to one of the teas that you knew you enjoyed. He nodded. As he prepped the tea, you placed the loaf of bread on the counter. “French toast?” you murmured, voice soft because of the soreness.

“VERY WELL.”

That was…short and easy? You thought he’d immediately take control and suggest something else. It usually was at least a ten minute battle of wits with him when it came to things like this. He gave up way too quickly…your eyes were drilling holes into at his back as he poured the hot water into a cup for you.

“Edge?” you hummed, and he turned around to look at you expectantly. You tilted your head slightly.

“WELL? WHAT IS IT?” he demanded when you didn’t say anything further. You tapped your throat, and he grumbled before handing you the tea. “I LOATHE ADMITTING IT, BUT I HAVE NOT MADE FRENCH TOAST BEFORE.”

You blew lightly on the tea before taking a tentative sip. The temperature was hot…but, really you weren’t feeling much right now. You quickly took a long drink of it, causing Edge to regard you coolly. He definitely knew something was up now. He had often complained that you were too weak when it came to temperatures. If you were cold or hot, you complained usually.

“It’s easy,” you said, voice a bit louder but still soft as there were still monsters sleeping. Your throat was soothed as you taught Edge, and then Papyrus and Blue when they came a few moments later, how to make French Toast. When Blue asked what you were doing here so early, you simply said ‘making breakfast’ with a gentle smile. Edge had given you a sharp look when you still refused to answer the question. It wasn’t often you darted around issues. Especially towards Edge or Red, they preferred directness…and you blowing him or any others off like this?

Well, you hoped you’d be off to home before they could bring it up again.

Soon, the four of you had made plenty of French Toast for the six skeleton monsters and you. They each went to wake their respective brothers as you tidied the kitchen a bit more. You drank a bit more of your tea, staring at the ground blankly.

Red was the first one out of his room, and he didn’t even notice you as he shuffled into the dining room. You didn’t often see Red without his signature jacket or baseball shorts, but there he was in a loose tee-shirt with a nerdy pun on it and pyjama pants with crossbones on them. He grabbed the back of the chair at the head of the table, yanked it out roughly before he slouched down into it. His eye sockets blinked slowly as he scratched at his cheek, grumpily.

That was when he noticed you sipping your tea at the kitchen counter, and a red flush covered his face. “…hey…doll, what’re ya doin here? Boss didn't say nuthin’ bout ya…” he grumbled, looking like he was trying to push aside his morning grumps to be semi-pleasant to you. You walked over and sat down at the spot near him, leaning your head on your fist.

“I made breakfast,” you said simply, sipping at your tea. You ignored him as his eye sockets narrowed and scrutinized you for a moment, the grumpiness returned full force when you dropped your gaze to the mug.

“tch…fine…don't tell me,” he grumbled slouching even further. “s’not like I care anyway.”

You offered him a small smile, even if you weren’t feeling it. You didn’t want to be the reason he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.“Not fully awake there, sweetheart?”

His face flushed at the nickname her typically gave to you, and he grumbled as his brother walked in and smacked him upside the head. “SIT UP FOR ASGORES SAKE, BROTHER.”

Red grumbled and sat straighter, but didn’t hide his glare aimed at his brother who merely pulled out the chair across from you and settled down. The two exchanged a look but didn’t say anything further, and your eyes flicked over to the door. What excuse would let you hightail it out of here sooner?

It didn’t take long for the others to enter the dining room. Stretch’s and Sans’ reaction were the same as Red, with significantly less grumpiness. They regarded you curiously, but neither of them said anything as they plopped down in their usual spots. Thankfully, no one brought up your presence or appearance during breakfast. Although you were wearing the same clothes as last night…but the guys had never commented on your clothing before. You had worn the same shirt for three days before when you were stressed during your final semester of university.

Besides, all of them were in various states of wakefulness and dress. Red and Stretch were both in their pyjamas still, while Sans was in the same thing he always wore but his hoodie was zipped up, and he kept nodding off as he ate until the breakfast pun-war occurred. You were able to lift your tea as Edge slammed his fist on the table, saving yourself from getting warm tea all over yourself.

Thankfully, the three pun masters knew when to quit and stopped before the table was flipped, and the conversation was pulled into a different direction. They began going over their schedules for the day. There was the Ambassador meeting down at city hall discussing new bylaws, but you zoned out of that relatively quickly. Not because you didn’t care about monster politics, but because it was too early for your brain to process and it wasn’t in the best state to deal with that anyway.

Thankfully, the conversation hadn’t turned towards you…yet, but from the looks, all the brothers were giving you, you knew they were going to bring it up sooner or later. Maybe it was time to get out before they did?

“SO, ARE YOU READY TO EXPLAIN WHY YOU STAYED THE NIGHT ON OUR COUCH? OR WILL YOU KEEP DEFLECTING LIKE THE LAZY IDIOTS?” Edge asked, interrupting a conversation between Blue and Red. The two instantly stopped talking, attention being drawn to you.

“you stayed the night, hun?” Stretch asked, leaning forward so he could look at you better, “coulda told me, i would’ve taken the couch.”

“heh…or ya coulda joined me in my bed,” Red winked at you.

“RED, YOU KNOW THAT SHE DOES NOT LIKE IT WHEN YOU FLIRT WITH HER. SHE’S GOT A DATEMATE,” Blue glared at the red skeleton before placing a hand on your arm, “BUT MY BROTHER IS RIGHT. ANYONE OF US WOULD HAVE OFFERED THEIR BED.”

“SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, BABY BLUE,” Edge snapped.

You had frozen when Blue had said ‘DATEMATE.’ Nope. Nope. You immediately stood up, chair pushing back. “I…I should go!” you said, forcing cheer onto your face. “I should get home! I didn’t think I could get home safely last night. I drank too much,” you lied.

“uhuh,” Stretch hummed, before shrugging, “ill walk you home.”

“You don’t have to,” you said quickly, almost too quickly. Stretch’s brow bone rose, and you saw his smile tense. Shit. The others were regarding you with curious suspicion.

“i wanna smoke anyways,” he stood up, jerking his head towards the door. “come on, hun.”

You knew he wouldn’t let you go alone, he always knew when anyone was lying. Your heart was pounding in your chest as you nodded curtly and then looked at the others.

“Sorry for crashing on your couch without asking, I’ll see you guys later,” you said and walked around the table, but Edge’s hand shot out to stop you. It was a firm grip, not meant to hurt, but to keep you still.

“DO NOT THINK THAT YOU HAVE ESCAPED THE QUESTION, HUMAN,” Edge said, eye sockets narrowed up at you.

“Didn’t think you cared that much, Edge,” you said, trying to force your tone to sound like a tease but it came out too flat. His grip tightened slightly, but then he let go.

“I ONLY CARE BECAUSE YOU WERE IN OUR HOUSE WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE. HOW DID YOU EVEN GET BACK INSIDE?” he huffed, crossing his arms and looking away from you. “EVEN THE LAZIEST OF US WOULD LOCK THE DOOR BEFORE GOING TO BED.”

“Magic,” you lied, with a wink and jazz hands, “see you guys later.”

Stretch placed a hand on your back between your shoulder blades and guided you to the front door.

The moment the door closed behind the two of you, he lit a dog treat and took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. His eye lights shifted over to you lazily before he gestured towards the road. You knew he would wait until the two of you were a decent distance from the house before he questioned you.

You had known the skeleton monsters for years now, ever since you had started dating Frisk in university. The skelebros, as you affectionately referred to them collectively, had even remained your friends even after the two of you ended your relationship amicably. You were introduced to the whole motley crew of skeletons during a Gfytmas/Christmas party that Toriel had invited you and Frisk to. 

Surprisingly, at least to Frisk, you got along the best with Edge and Red. You knew where you stood with them at all times, they weren’t afraid to tell you when you were stupid, and you weren’t scared to talk back to them. Hell, fights with those two were quick and straight to the point. ‘You did this wrong, I’m angry, fuck you, okay I’m good.’ You couldn’t think of one time where you felt bitter feelings lingering after the fight, because everything was out in the open with them.

Although, with Stretch, he was the kind of guy you could tell anything to. Mostly because he knew the instant you were trying to hide something. It was his sixth sense. He always told you he could ‘feel it in his bones’ with a wink whenever you asked him how he always seemed to known. You knew that he was holding his fair share of secrets and trauma to himself…and you had offered to listen but he still just brushed it off saying that he would and then never did.

However, that wasn’t to say you weren’t close to the others either. You, Blue, and Papyrus attended a self-defence class since monsters weren’t allowed to use their magic against humans and you wanted to be safe. You’d garden with Papyrus during the spring and summer. Red let you help when he was tinkering around in the garage because you were honestly in love with learning new things. Edge and you didn’t have an ‘activity’ to do together, but you still enjoyed his company. You went to every one of Sans’ comedy shows to support him. They were some of your best friends…and they were all so different but so similar. Currently, the most similar aspect that you were worried about was the fact that…well…

They all _hated_ your ex.

“so,” Stretch exhaled the smoke through his nasal bone and draped his arm around your shoulders. “why’re you avoiding our questions and lying to us? i know you left for your home…i was smoking on the balcony when you did.”

You stopped dead in your tracks, nearly getting yanked forward by his arm but thankfully he stopped almost immediately. He didn’t drop his arm and watched you quietly. For a moment you were panicking trying to think of an excuse…but none came.

Besides…they’d figure it out eventually. Might as well be from you.

“I…he…” you started before pressing the heel of your palms into your eyes. Stretch was probably the least likely to freak out…maybe Sans too but…

“what did he do?” Stretch asked, stepping closer his arm tightening around your shoulders slightly, “did he hurt you?”

You clenched your fists tightly, trying to ease the pressure in your chest by inhaling deeply. It didn’t work, and as you exhaled, it turned into a half-sob. His hand began to gently rub circles into your arm. “hey, hun, if he hurt you, i ain’t taken you back there. ill take you back to my place.”

You stepped forward and wrapped your arms around his chest. He gently patted your back, humming soothingly. However, as calm as he was trying to be, you felt the tension in his form this close. The angry thrum of his magic against you. The sharp feeling of vertigo jerked you from his arms as you blinked away tears. Instead of the street, you were standing in the middle of a very messy bedroom. Bookshelves lined the room, with books practically pouring out of them…a tornado in the corner was filled with books, papers, pens, and a package of suckers.

It wasn’t the first time one of the skeleton brothers used their shortcuts, but they usually distracted you a lot better than just hugging you.

“i can get one of the others if you’d rather…” Stretch murmured switching the cigarette for a sucker. You slowly shook your head, and he gently shoved your shoulders. You lost balance, not really expecting to be pushed and landed heavily in a beanbag chair. You slowly started to sink into it as he dropped down beside you, “what happened?”

Tears prickled at your eyes now that you two were both staring up at his ceiling instead of at each other you felt a lot less…confronted. He didn’t ask again, and the two of you just sat in silence, staring at the popcorn ceiling. There were a few knicks and gouges taken out of it that you trained your gaze on.

Anything to keep your mind off the pain in your chest.

“I got home,” you whispered, and your tears instantly started to overflow. You found his hand and squeezed it. He gave a comforting squeeze in return. “Y’know how you guys offered me to stay the night because the marathon was gunna run late? But I said no?” your voice was barely audible, but you felt the words start bubbling up, and soon you couldn’t stop yourself from spilling everything out. “When I got home…I-I heard noises upstairs, and at first, I thought he was just…yknow, masturbating so I didn’t think anything of it. But then I heard a woman’s voice that I knew. I should’ve just left, but I couldn’t stop myself. I was so fucking angry but empty at the same time and I just…” your hand clenched his harder, and he sat up, but wasn’t looking at you. He placed his other hand over the top of your joined hands and gently rubbed your knuckles. “He was fucking my sister.”

Stretch’s head snapped to you, but you couldn’t really see him past the tears overflowing. Your body wracked with sobs, and he immediately pulled you into a hug. The numbness that you had forced over your heart evaporated, and you felt the full impact of his betrayal. The more you sobbed, the more you thought about all the times he said he loved you, all the times he held you, all the times you two were together. It hurt. It felt like a weight was settled on top of your chest, pushing and pressing down on you until it felt like you were going to explode from the tension and pain. You wanted to be numb again. You didn’t want to feel this.

Eventually, your sobs lessened. Your tears dried. Your chest felt even the tiniest bit lighter. Only then did Stretch pull away from the embrace.

“do you want me to tell the others?” he asked after a stretch of silence. “’'m not sure how to handle this, to be honest…” he rubbed his neck, gaze on the floor. “nyeheh kind of want to kill the asshole but...what do you want me to do? what do you want to do?”

You know he was joking about the killing part, and you took his hand in your own. “I...want to get my things,” you said softly, throat sore from sobbing again. “I want to kick his ass and my sister’s ass. I want to cry. I want to…hurt something or myself or anything…I want to just not feel like this,” you threaded one of your hands into your hair tightly until it hurt slightly. Stretch gently urged your hand from your hair and pulled you from the bean bag.

“no hurting yourself, honey, or anyone else…what we can do is go get your stuff,” he said, guiding you to the door after releasing your hands. You hesitated, you felt your emotions beginning to build upon each other. Enhancing each negative emotion until it felt like you were about to burst.

“Why?” you asked.

Stretch looked back at you, calmly waiting for you to clarify the question.

“You don’t need to help me, you know,” you said softly, you stared down at his shins. “I can do this myself.”

A beat went by where he didn’t say anything, he only spoke when you met his gaze. “tibia honest, i know you’ve got the backbone to deal with this yourself, honey, but you don't gotta.”

You huffed a weak laugh at his bone puns. It was refreshing, he hadn’t whipped a pun out since breakfast, and even then they were interjected amongst other jokesters.

The real question was, should you let him help? You were confident that your ex would be at work, so you could go in, get your shit, and send him a text saying that you grabbed your things and you wouldn’t be sleeping there anymore. Honestly, there would be no point in having anyone come with you…but at the same time you didn’t want to be alone. You had never felt so alone in your life; even with Stretch standing in front of you…you couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if you left this house without someone else.

“Alright,” you murmured, and his grin widened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit, guess who's publishing two stories at once? This overambitious chick. I don't know my update schedule for sure yet, it might be every 2 weeks for this one, or every week??? but it'll always be out on a Friday!
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat


	2. Chapter 2

You had given Stretch the go-ahead to tell his family about your ex while you called Frisk before you went over to your- no, to your exes place to retrieve your things. Unfortunately, most of the furniture was his as he purchased the house before you two were even a thing; you just moved in with him. However...even it some of it was yours, you didn’t know how you’d get it out or where you’d put it...

Honestly, you’d probably be living in your car until you could find a place to live...

Tears pricked at the corner of your eyes at the prospect. You wouldn’t – no, you _couldn’t_ impose on any of your friends by asking them if you could crash on their couch. You wanted to deal with by yourself because...well, it wasn’t their problem. Stretch offering to help you get your things was already making you feel guilty.

Hell, you crashed on their couch without asking them because you didn’t want them to worry about you...now, here you were, crying in Stretch’s room while faced with the prospect of homelessness.

It was only when your tears stopped pouring that you took a deep, calming breath, you hit the call button. Frisk rarely ever talked except in the presence of a select few. If they answered the phone that meant they were somewhere alone, which was good. Really good. Still, your heart raced in your chest as the phone rang. Half hoping they didn’t answer, and half hoping they would.

“Hey,” came their short answer. Their voice was distant, and you could hear the quiet white noise of the car. They were using their blue tooth as they were driving then.

“H-Hey...bud,” you winced as your voice cracked.

“What happened?” they asked calmly, but firmly.

“I...uh...” you started, but you couldn’t force the words out, staring at the swirling trash tornado in the corner of Stretch’s room. You clamped your mouth together, “I...I’m...uh...I don’t...”

“What happened?” Frisk asked once again, their voice tighter this time.

“I...he...I caught him...cheating on me,” your voice broke, and you immediately pressed a hand over your face as your body started shaking. Damnit. You curled in on yourself, trying to keep yourself from sobbing into the phone.

“Where are you?” Frisk asked softly, their voice calm and soothing.

“Skelebros...” you choked out.

“Okay,” came their simple reply before the phone disconnected. You clutched it to your chest as you sobbed quietly into your other hand. You heard Red’s angry shouts from downstairs a second later, and then something breaking. Guilt clung to your chest. You shouldn’t have come here last night. You shouldn’t have gotten the skeletons involved.

The front door slammed open and then silence. Not two seconds later, you heard someone taking the stairs two at a time before Stretch’s door flew open.

“That bastard,” Frisk growled to themself quietly before striding over to you. “Hey,” they cooed, dropping into a crouch in front of you, rubbing your arms.

“How’d you get here so fast?” you asked, voice thick with unshed tears as you pulled them into a hug. Frisk held you tightly, gently rubbing your back now instead.

“I was heading over here anyways...look, you can stay with me and MK till you find a place for yourself,” they offered.

“I...If that’s okay with MK too,” you murmured softly, and you heard Frisk snort.

“As if it wouldn’t be,” they laughed gently, “also...do you want me to kick Chad’s ass?”

You choked out a laugh, “You couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“that’s where you’re wrong, kiddo,” Sans spoke up from the doorway. You glanced up to see him, Papyrus, Edge, and Blue standing just outside the room. You swallowed thickly and wiped at your tearstained face. It was fine having one or two people see you in this state, but nearly all of them? No. You felt your face heating up and irritation bubbling in your stomach — irritation at yourself.

“What was that crashing noise?” you asked, looking over Frisk to the others. The guilt that had taken a temporary back seat came forth full force. You knew that Red had done something...but you hoped it was only minimal damage.

“RED FLIPPED THE TABLE AND TELEPORTED AWAY. PAPY WENT TO YOUR HOUSE JUST IN CASE RED WENT THERE,” Blue stated.

You shot to your feet, knocking Frisk onto their ass. “What?”

“Ah,” Frisk said, looking up at you, “That’s a problem.”

“You think?” you grabbed at their arm to help haul them to their feet. You were just glad that Red hadn’t decided to take Edge with him as well. One brother alone could do a lot of damage, but the two of them were a force to be reckoned with. Shit. You _really _didn’t need to get sued by your ex because your friends thrashed his house.“Red better not have done anything! Oh god. Stretch better not do anything either.”

Frisk turned around, and Sans sighed heavily. “ok.”

Before you could ask what he was talking about, he strode over to the two of you and grabbed both of your arms.

The world tilted, and you felt the sudden need to sit down, but when your vision cleared, you were standing in front of your home...no, his house. It wasn’t your home anymore. It would never be again. Frisk placed their hands on their hips and stared up at the house, watching for a moment before looking back at you. No shouting? Is that a good sign? Or does that mean that they went somewhere else? Did...they better not have gone to his work. Did they even know where he worked? You really hoped not.

You pulled out your keys and trudged up the steps. Your heart was pounding as you remembered how naive you were last night walking up the same steps to the front door. How you had unlocked the door and quietly entered, hoping not to wake your ex. You had told him that you might not be home. Yet, he was confident enough to fuck your own sister even though there was still the chance that you would come home.

As you opened the door, you recoiled slightly in surprise.

Stretch was smothering Red with a throw pillow.

They both were frozen now, but you had defiantly heard Stretch telling Red to shut up and Red snarling when you opened the door.

Frisk peered over your head and then snorted and walked in; you vaguely heard them mutter something about ‘Honey mustard?’ Your cat instantly stopped hissing at the two skeletons on top of the fridge to dart up the stairs at the appearance of new people. Frisk held out their hand and Stretch reluctantly put the pillow in their hand.

“get the fuck offa me ya fucking overgrown carrot!” Red snarled, writhing beneath Stretch.

“only if you stop screaming and trying to destroy shit,” Stretch replied.

“Stretch, Red, enough,” you snapped running a hand through your hair. “I...just let’s get my shit and get out of here.”

Stretch, somewhat reluctantly, stood up. Red instantly leapt to his feet, knocking the taller monster onto his ass. Any other moment, you would’ve giggled at their antics...but right now you just felt exhausted. You wanted to get some of your shit and then go and wallow at Frisk’s apartment with them and MK. The dino monster always had a way of making everything seem like it was going to be okay.

“yer just gunna let that fuckin’ cheatin’ sunva bitch get away with this?” Red snapped at you, “ya gotta do something to get back at’im!”

“No...I don’t want anything to do with him anymore...” you murmured, walking past the rest of the monsters and heading up the stairs. Before you made it to the top, Red ported in front of you, looking down at you with rage. You couldn’t tell if he was mad at you or not...but your brain was whispering that he was angry at you...and it was making your chest feel heavier.

“what the hell?? why aren’t cha ANGRY!!!” Red demanded, his hands clenched tightly in fists as he stared at you.

“What’s the point?” you asked back, noticing how your voice sounded just as defeated as you did. You couldn’t even meet Red’s eyes for fuck's sake. With each moment you were in this house, you felt heavier and more empty. Everywhere you looked, you remembered _him, _and you didn’t want to. You didn’t want to remember the time you got sick, and he helped you upstairs to lay you in the bed, bringing you whatever you needed. You didn’t want to remember when he woke you up with breakfast on your birthday. You didn’t want to remember cuddling on the couch watching stupid movies. You didn’t want to remember any of it. The sooner you were out, the sooner you could forget. When Red didn’t answer, you sighed softly, “Why do you care, Red? You didn’t like the guy anyway...you’re probably happy...”

When you looked back up...he was gone.

Frisk placed a hand on your shoulder. You shrugged it off and headed down the hall to your bedroom.

You winced when you saw everything, exactly how you left it last night — sheets half off the bed. You saw a bra that wasn’t yours just underneath the sheets. The room was dark and empty.

For a moment, you just stood there, staring at the empty bed.

Frisk leaned against the door frame, entering your peripherals. They didn’t say anything, just stared into the room with their neutral face of displeasure. You didn’t want to have to tell them what your ex had done...they had introduced you to him. You knew that, even without them saying anything, they felt guilty about this. That was why they were there for you. They had been there for you throughout the entire relationship. They’d be there when it ended.

“what’s yours from downstairs, kid,” Sans asked, interrupting your silent assessment.

“I’ll show you,” Frisk offered, pushing away from the doorframe. “Stretch.”

You glanced over as the two switched positions.

Frisk and Sans headed downstairs while Stretch followed you into your bedroom. You saw the disbelieving anger on Stretch’s face as he examined the bedroom before it faded into his regular poker face. You noticed him subtly kick the bra further under the bed, and flashed him a weak smile.

The two of you piled your clothes into your suitcases. Thankfully, when you had moved in with Chad, you had purged your closet considering you were sharing a closet with him, and you hadn’t exactly been the biggest fan of shopping, to begin with. As for your things? There was a lot of small objects that were yours, most of the consoles were yours, but you didn’t have a lot of sentimentality to most of your things besides the consoles and games. Your ex could deal with the rest of your shit that you left behind. You’d let him know that when you texted him after this was all over.

Stretch held up an old orange dress of yours to himself, and grinned his usual shit-eating ‘i’m going to tell a joke’ grin. You paused to examine the dress held up against him. “why did the tomato blush?”

“Why?” you asked, returning to your task at hand, which was scooping your socks from the drawer and dumping them into your empty laundry basket. It was the only laundry basket because you and Chad had shared, but you bought it. He can go fuck himself and buy another one once he discovered it was gone. Asshole.

“he saw the salad _dress_-ing,” he quipped. You couldn’t help the disbelieving half-scoff half-laugh at his joke, and you saw his face soften. Content that he had made you laugh. You paused and gave him a hesitant smile.

“Thanks...Paps...” you murmured softly. His fingers hesitated as he went to zip up the full suitcase on the bed. It wasn’t often you used his actual name instead of his nickname, and you saw him glance over at you in surprise before he straightened. A faint tangerine blush dusted his cheekbones.

“s’nothin’,” he mumbled as he picked up your suitcase and placed it on the floor. For a moment neither of you spoke as you dumped more of your undergarments into the laundry basket. Then he scratched at his head and stepped forward. “hey...so, about what you said to red...don’t know why i’m defending the guy, but he cares that you’re hurt. the others do too. i...care...and if your relationship had ended any other way? we woulda supported you differently, more drinks and celebrations...” he said, hand extended towards you slightly as if he was going to touch you, but it dropped to his side.

You tensed slightly, hands stalling halfway in pushing the drawer closed. You were always bad when it came to thinking people cared about you...which is why it hurt so much that your ex did what he did. You had finally started believing that he did. You chewed at the inside of your lip, and you slowly nodded your head. But you didn’t say anything. There were only two people you had actually talked about it with. Frisk and..._him. _People you were in relationships with.

Stretch picked up your other suitcase. “i’ll let the others know we're done up here, kay?”

Another nod, and you watched as he left the room.

The moment he was gone, you shook your head and grabbed your laundry basket. You placed it beside the top of the stairs and headed into the bathroom. You grabbed everything you could and tossed it into your travel bathroom bag and then tossed everything else atop the underwear in the laundry basket. You refused to let your mind wander because that was not productive. All you wanted to do was get your things and get out now.

You’ll let yourself worry about how you spoke to Red later.

You took the towels that you had bought out of the bathroom <strike>(because you’re allowed to be petty and honestly he only had one towel when you moved in which had been kinda musty smelling (so you threw it out)). </strike>

You climbed down the stairs with your laundry basket to see the three break from what looked like a meeting in your- _Chad’s _living room. Frisk clapped their hands together.

“I can’t have cats in my apartment,” they said guiltily, glancing over at Egg who was perched on her cat tree. Content to watch the relative strangers in her house from up high.

“Oh,” your heart dropped in your chest as you looked over at the fluffy white ball of sweetness. “I...”

You felt tears well up in your eyes. You had gotten her when she was a kitten after university. You walked over to Egg and picked her up, she let out a content mewl, bumping her head against your chin, and started purring like a monster truck. Happy that her human was paying attention to her and not the weird creatures in her house.

“which is why, if you want, you can stay at our place till ya find your own,” Sans said, his ever-present grin widening a bit. “that way you and the q-tip can stay together.”

Your mouth opened and then snapped shut. You glanced over at Stretch, but his lazy grin didn’t betray anything. Did he convince Sans? Or was it Frisk? Frisk normally had a greater sway over the shorter skeleton...but Stretch was the one to offer you to stay at their house before. You didn’t want to impose on the skeletons more than you already have. For god sakes, you had broken into their house, cried your semi-drunk self to sleep, woke up, made breakfast, and then darted out of the house like your ass was on fire, just to appear in Stretch’s room sobbing like a child until your best friend burst into the house and then teleported to your exes. That was too much for them to deal with already! Let alone having a cat in the house! God, you could already see Edge’s reaction to Egg.

But...you really didn’t want to get separated from Egg. You had told your ex when you started dating him that if it ever came down to it and it was either him or your cat, you’d choose your cat.

“I...just a few weeks. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a place that will let me have her,” you said, reluctant to accept the offer. If it was Frisk? That was different, they lived with MK, and you knew that MK loved Egg and had such positivity that he would be over-excited that you would be visiting for a couple of weeks. The skelebros house had six full-grown monsters running around; it was already overcrowded.

“_egg-_cellent,” Stretch grinned, turning to look down at the blue-hoodied skeleton, “i’ll get her to drive us back to the house if ya wanna pop over and get the others ready.”

“i’ll let the _yolks_ back home bout the spe-_shell _guest,” Sans responded his grin wide as well. You couldn’t stop the giggle that came past your lips at their puns about your cat’s name. He winked at you, proud that he had gotten you to laugh as well. In a blink, he was gone.

Frisk shook their head, an amused grin on their face before they jerked their thumb towards the garage door. You didn’t live _too _far from the skelebros house, so you rarely drove to their place, which was the only reason why your car was still in the garage. You grabbed your keys from where you had tossed them absentmindedly when you entered and handed them to your old friend.

“Hey, Stretch, in the closet there is a carrier for Egg, can you grab it?” you asked, making sure to start rubbing your cats head so her eyes closed. Her purring rammed up to a fighter jet. Just in case she decided to try to bolt at the sight of the carrier. Stretch complied, and with minimal fight, you were able to close her inside the carrier. “Are…you sure that the others are cool with her?”

“red or edge might not have positive _felines_ about her at first but,” he shrugged, “sans will do the thing and get them listening.”

“The thing?” you asked as he lifted the carrier to peer in at Egg.

“oh, yea, the thing,” he said, looking down at you and then his eye lights went out. You jerked back slightly in surprise. When he spoke, it was a weak attempt to mimic Sans baritone voice, “mess with the cat and you’ll have a **b a d t i m e**.”

Frisk snorted so hard from behind you that it startled you. You glanced back as they walked over, taking the carrier from Stretch. “That was terrible. It’s more like. ‘mess with the cat, and you’ll have a **b a d t i m e**.’”

You had forgotten how _good_ Frisk was at mimicking others voices. There was still that faint sound of their own voice beneath it, but if you weren’t paying attention, you could’ve sworn that it wasn’t them speaking. Of course, that only applied to people they knew really well.

Stretch’s eye lights widened a bit at the obviously new realized talent “could you-“

“No,” Frisk said simply, their face returning to their neutral face of displeasure before carrying Egg out to the car.

“come on, it’ll be funny,” Stretch called, grabbing the laundry basket and one of the suitcases. You chuckled, picking up one of the boxes of your things. At least…at least they were able to distract you from the thoughts gnawing at the back of your head. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess I'm updating this once a week on Fridays~!
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat


	3. Chapter 3

“you get one of the spare rooms,” Stretch explained, bumping open the door to the house with his foot. His arms occupied with your suitcase and full laundry basket. You had another bag in one arm, and Egg’s carrier in the other as you followed him in. She was meowing indignantly from being shoved in her crate for the drive over.

Edge emerged from the kitchen and stopped when he saw you. His sharp gaze followed you as you kicked off your shoes by the front door. You immediately dropped your gaze...did he know what you said to his brother? Is he going to get mad at you? Hopefully not...you...didn’t know if you could deal with _anyone _yelling at you right now.

“Why do you have spare rooms? How many rooms do you have?” you asked, trying to keep your voice above the murmur that it wanted to drop to. Edge watched you shuffle past him but didn’t say anything, and you didn’t look up at him to see how he was looking at you. The front door closed behind him as he left, and you released a soft sigh. What was worse? Edge yelling at you or not saying anything?

“other…cousins moved out a while ago…did you ever meet them?” Stretch asked, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself as he was currently trying to shuffle down the short hallway without bumping any of your things against the wall. You wondered why he didn’t just use a ‘shortcut’ to drop your things off, but you didn’t know enough about magic to ask.

“Not that I can remember,” you admitted, there had been so many times when you were inundated with people that Frisk knew that you weren’t sure if you had actually met the two skeletons that used to live in the house. Or the very few times you’d gotten incredibly drunk, but that was another thing you had to cut out. You weren’t going to become a drunk because you were single, alone, and would be homeless if it weren’t for the skeletons.

Oh. Great. A reminder that you could very quickly be homeless.

“oh well,” Stretch mumbled, “the closet has leftover hangers in it…i think…if not well we can get ya some, hun.”

Frisk slipped past Stretch who was trying to crack open the door without putting anything down, and the three of you shuffled into the room. You placed Egg’s carrier down on the bed, sticking your fingers through the carrier and smiling softly while she rubbed her cheek against it. “You’re a guest in this home, behave,” you told her softly before opening the carrier. You’d ask one of the tidier skeletons where they would like Egg’s litter box, but for now, you’d keep it in your room. Egg wouldn’t be content once she was used to the new place to stay in your room, but you wouldn’t subject your temporary roommates to her litter box without their approval.

Egg slowly crept from the carrier, ears flicking around as she eyed her new surroundings. She hopped off the bed and started to rub herself over _everything _she could find while meowing about the latest changes. You loved that she was so chill about life.

Frisk snorted, and you could see a quip coming, but then their smartwatch vibrated and they visibly paled. A feat not easily accomplished, there wasn’t much that scared or threw Frisk off their groove.

“I GOTTA GO!” they said, voice louder than you had _ever _heard it. “I’m going to be late to the meeting, Stretch, I will let you use my mimic ability ONE time if you shortcut me? Please?”

“sweet.”

Your teeth clenched together in anger. You hadn’t noticed before, but they were in their ambassador suit, your mind had been way too focused on other things to process that. How selfish were you? Your emotions could’ve waited. They were talking this morning about the meeting, and you should’ve put two and two together and waited to tell Frisk about what happened until after the meeting. Guilt jolted through you, and you smacked their arm, you were so selfish.

“What were you thinking coming here when you have a meeting??” you demanded, crossing your arms. You weren’t more important than their job, you never had been.

Stretch had lazily moved over to Frisk and took their arm, but Frisk managed to blurt out, “like my best friend’s ex needed an ass-kicking but that’s for later! I’ll text you after! BY-“ before the two of them poofed from existence.

There was one point where the skeletons had been more…reserved with their magic use. Their ‘shortcuts’ were never in front of you, and if you ever were invited to use a shortcut they distracted the shit out of you so that you didn’t notice until after that you were in a different place. Though, you could count the number of times that happened on one hand.

However…now you were alone. The house was quiet. You faintly remembered that Edge had been in his Royal Ambassador suit when he was heading out of the kitchen, which meant that he wasn’t home anymore. Neither would Blue or Papyrus, as they were ambassadors for their individual monster cultures.

Red was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Sans…so you wondered if Sans had stopped by to inform the others of the development and then went to find Red. Or perhaps Sans was in the study? Maybe you should go and check? But you didn’t know the house well enough to be sure which room upstairs was the study.

You hoped it was the former…Red could sometimes be volatile if he were left with his own thoughts. Anxiety or anger was the likely outcome to your words…and guilt clung to your chest. You sent him a text immediately, but you got no response. Left on read. Hopefully, you were just overthinking the effect of your words on him, and he was just fuming silently at Grillby’s.

Looking down, you saw the meagre items of your life strewn about the room and tears started to come again. Your mind slipped away from Red towards your current state.

What were you going to do?

The house was under his name, and even if it was under yours, you couldn’t afford the house by yourself with your salary. Apartments in the city were expensive, and it would be even harder to find one you could afford that also allowed pets. You’d need to work on your budget and figure out what to cut out to afford to live by yourself in an apartment. Maybe you could get a second job? Maybe at Muffet’s or Grillby’s? They both ran their establishments alone…so perhaps if you begged you could get a job at one of their locations. Would they let a human work for them? Maybe, since you knew the skeletons and Frisk.

The aspect that you were dreading the most was that you would need to tell your father and step-mother what happened…and you didn’t want to. Your step-mother had always been of the mind that her daughter was never in the wrong. How was she going to take this? Blame you? Say that there must’ve been a mistake that it wasn’t her daughter? It didn’t matter, really, what their opinion was…but you would have to tell them that you weren’t dating your ex anymore.

Maybe it would be easier to just tell your father that the two of you just couldn’t work anymore, and you had left Chad…

The feeling in your chest grew heavier, and you inhaled deeply.

If you sat here worrying about everything, you’d never get anything done. You’d deal with what you could and had to at this moment. Right now? It was Sunday, and unfortunately, that meant that a lot of what you had to do, you couldn’t. The post office was closed so you couldn’t contact them to forward your mail to the skeletons house temporarily. You knew a lot of larger apartment complex’s closed their offices on Sunday from when you had initially been looking for apartments after getting out of university.

So, for now, you’d have to do things that seemed pointless in the grand scheme of things. One of which was unpacking and making the spare room a bit more comfortable for you.

You pulled out your favourite blanket and fluffed it out over the top of the comforter, and tossed your pillow on top. If there was one thing you knew, it was that you slept much better when you had your own pillow and blanket. Small things…but you felt like you would be having trouble sleeping for the next while.

The front door opened and closed before Stretch called out, “m’back.”

“Welcome back,” you called, and stared at your suitcase and then at the closet.

“ya dont gotta unpack everything now,” he said, his voice suddenly right behind you.

You jumped only a little.

“sorry,” he apologized, placing a steadying hand on your back, but then gestured towards the closet, “its not going anywhere.”

You nodded. You knew that…and you didn’t want to become too comfortable here. If things went your way, you’d be moving into an apartment within a month. If that was the case…you shouldn’t unpack! Maybe…just the stuff in your laundry basket, it was mostly clothing you normally folded anyways. Besides, you didn’t really want your underwear just sitting out for the guys to see if they came into the spare room for whatever reason.

“imma heat up some leftovers, want some?” Stretch asked, and you turned to see him picking Egg up from the floor. He stared at her, holding her beneath her front legs. One of her paws reached out and gently pressed against his cheekbone. You saw his eye lights widen slightly and then he moved her closer. Egg took the opportunity to lean forward and nuzzle against his face.

“Sure, thanks,” you said, realizing you hadn’t responded and were just staring at the scene with awe.

He got up, repositioning Egg so she was draped around his neck and then he shuffled from the room. You couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto your face at the sight. You were so worried Egg wouldn’t get along with any of them…but here she was, draped across Stretch’s shoulders like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Once he was out of the room, you felt your phone vibrate, and you instantly yanked it out. Did Red text you back??

No. It was a reminder for your phone bill.

Your chest clenched, and you sat on the edge of your borrowed bed. It wasn’t like Red to just…vanish like that. You would’ve expected him to continue shouting at you, trying to get you mad at your ex, trying to get you to feel something that wasn’t sadness.

You stared at your phone for a few moments before opening your messages and navigated to your ex’s conversation. You resolutely ignored the previous messages, knowing that you’d just be kicking yourself for not noticing what he was up to sooner. There was also an endless cascade of texts and calls from him that you didn’t read…knowing what they’d say. Instead, your fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to think of what to say. Maybe you should just…phone him? No. Then there was the chance he’d answer the call even if he were at work.

**You 9:21 AM: **In case it wasn’t obvious last night, we’re over.

**You 9:21 AM: **I took everything that I wanted to keep. I don’t care what you do with the shit I left behind.

After that, you called your boss. He picked up at his standard two rings. “What can I do for ya?” he asked, cheerfully.

Swallowing the sudden burst of tears, you took a deep breath, “Hey…uh…I know this is…weird, but can…can I take tomorrow off?”

There was a brief moment of silence, “Are you okay? Did something happen? You don’t have to tell me, it’s none of my business but…you sound choked up. Is everything with your Dad okay?”

You pressed the heel of your hand against your eye, “I…my…me and my boyfriend broke up because…uh-I just need an extra day to get things in order. He…I’m staying with some friends, but I need to find an apartment and get some things together. Uh…I totally get it if I can’t…but…I’m kinda…not great right now?”

“Sounds like a bad breakup,” he said, voice full of sympathy. “I get it. No. Take the day off. You rarely call in! Let me know if I can do anything to help! I know a great lawyer for situations like this, because sometimes you’re entitled to more than you think.”

You smiled softly, “Thanks…I’ll let you know? But…thanks for letting me take the day off. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Seriously. No need to make it up to me either,” he said, firmly with no room for argument. “I’ll see you in a couple days.”

After exchanging goodbyes, you hung up and rubbed at your face roughly. You’d start to look for apartments after you eat some…brunch? Didn’t you just eat breakfast? Why was Stretch already eating again?

Speaking of, you left the spare room to find the tall skeleton.

“if you ate eggs would you be a cannibal?” his voice drifted from the kitchen, and you peered in seeing him munching on a taco with Egg sitting on the counter in front of him. You watched as he fed Egg a piece of beef.

“No cats on the counter! Don’t teach him bad habits,” you scolded Stretch, picking Egg up to a displeased mew, and plopped her on your shoulder.

“there was an egg on the counter, not a cat,” he teased, handing you a taco. You accepted it with a gentle smile and took a bite. “so…uh its just us for a bit, sans’ll be back in a bit but what do you say we order the unhealthiest, most delicious junk food we can get, veg out on the couch, and binge some like shitty romcoms? i read that's what humans do…when they break up?” Stretch was usually a fairly confident guy, at least outward, but he was busy picking apart the last taco on the plate instead of looking at you. His eye lights flicked to you and then back down to the plate.

You feel tears pricking at the corner of your eyes, “only the really bad romcoms, none of the sappy ones…not that I could see you watching a sappy romcom.”

“hey, i might _taco_ bout it a lot, but i'm a real _sappy_ skeleton,” he said, audibly winking at you. That gets a giggle out of you, which seems to delight him as he pulls out his phone. “muffet’s?”

“Muffet’s.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made some blueprints for the [skeles home](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/post/187194898113/i-got-bored-so-i-made-the-layout-of-the-skeles) because I kept kind of getting confused about the layout of their home in my mind.
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat


	4. Chapter 4

“_I love her! Can’t you see that!”_

Stretch lazily pointed at the screen, “isn’t that the guy who kept ignoring her when she was super stressed cus of her work shit?”

You nodded, reaching over and grabbing a handful of popcorn. “But don’t you know, if you say you love someone it trumps every shitty thing you did?”

Stretch was silent for a moment, then he snorted, “humans.”

“Hey, I think this is a shitty movie! Don’t lump me in with these...idiots,” you waved a hand towards the screen. The two of you had barely been silent since the movie began, and it was probably the worst romcom you had ever watched. Honestly, you were starting to wonder if any of the writers had ever been in a relationship at all.

You pulled the blanket closer to you and wriggled into a more comfortable position. Stretch was using your lap as his pillow, saying that he could place the food on his chest so you could easily access it. You were strangely okay with the physical contact...and, okay, maybe you had rested your hand against his skull because you wanted to see how it felt. There was just something so...natural about being like this with Stretch.

When Sans came in closer to the end of the movie, you thought that you might’ve been guilty that you were practically cuddling with Stretch, but you didn’t. If Sans had any opinion about it, he didn’t say...not that you thought he would anyways. Sans had flopped down onto the sectional and promptly fell asleep stating that the two of you had the worst taste in movies. You watched as Egg abandoned your side, as she decided that Sans’ chest was the best spot for a nap, and you could hear her engine-like purrs over the movie.

Eventually, you had moved onto something less romantically inclined, aka watching vine compilations until the others came home. Which led to the three of you quoting vines for the rest of the night, to the exasperation of everyone else.

Now, you were lying on your back in the spare room unable to fall asleep, even with Egg purring against your side. You were gently petting her side absentmindedly, knowing she’d move if she got fed up with your physical love. So far so good, her little paws occasionally pressed into your side, and her purring would ramp up.

Your ex had started texting you shortly after the others had returned, which was around when he usually got back from work. You had turned your phone to silent, but the texts kept coming. You were scrolling through all his texts reading the various different ways he said ‘it was a mistake’ or ‘it was a one-time thing’ and you wanted to call bullshit.

You couldn’t stand to look at it anymore, but since he wasn’t texting you anymore, you turned your phone to vibrate.

Instead, you watched cute animal videos on mute as you waited for the one person you wanted to text you back.

Eventually, you dropped your phone onto the bed and stroked Egg’s head lightly, enticing more loud purrs. At least she was a constant in your life, and she loved you unconditionally. You shifted her onto your chest, and after a soft complaint, she settled, tucking her head against your jaw. Tears glistened in your eyes, but you simply blinked them away. The purring started letting you drift off, but before you could fully fall asleep you jerked back awake for no goddamn reason.

With a sigh, you checked your phone for the five hundredth time and sent yet another text to Red asking if he was okay. You hadn’t heard back from him, and when you asked Edge before he went to bed, he simply said his brother was doing what he normally did when he was upset. Which just worsened the anxious feeling in your chest. Thankfully, Edge didn’t seem too concerned by his brother's absence. If he did, then you knew your anxiety would’ve exploded.

You were the one to make Red runoff, and you really didn’t want anything to happen because of that.

When your phone finally buzzed, you jumped slightly but quickly brought it up to your face. The light temporarily blinded you, so you had to squint to read the text.

**BigRed 11:24 PM: **where are ya

**You 11:24 PM: **One of the spare rooms

A heartbeat went by, and then there was a gentle knock on the door before Red entered. He honestly didn’t look as shitty as you thought he would after ‘doing what he normally did when upset.’ There was a new mustard stain on his shirt, but besides that, he didn’t look drunk. Then again, Red rarely got drunk enough that you had to be concerned about him. Where he came from, understanding that shitfaced meant he was a target to those who hated his brother.

You reached over to turn on the lamp before you sat up. Egg mewed her displeasure before getting up, stretching, and repositioning herself on the other pillow on the bed.

Red was glaring a hole into the ground as he gently closed the door.

“I know you’re angry at me-“ you started, but his eyes snapped up to you so fast you cut yourself off.

“i ain’t mad at cha,” he grumbled, “m’mad at myself…” his hands shoved deeper into his pockets. His eye lights glanced to the side, and you knew he was getting ready to shortcut the hell out of the room. Then he sighed heavily and slouched further, almost curling in on himself. “d’ya really believe that i’d be happy yer hurting?”

Your mouth opened to speak, but you snapped it shut before you could say anything. Instead, you gently shook your head. “I didn’t…mean it like that Red…”

“how’dja mean it?” he asked, eyes returning back to look at the carpet.

“I…” you paused, looking at him, “Red…you’re not normally the kind to talk about this kinda stuff like this…what’s wrong?”

He grumbled to himself, “m’goin’ to therapy…asshole says i gotta talk shit through more instead’a jumpin’ to conclusions like i normally do.”

That made your eyebrows raise, you didn’t know that. Then again, it wasn’t your business if any of your friends were going to therapy. You dropped your gaze to your hands. “If you’re uncomfortable…we could just-“

“we ain’t skippin’ the talk,” Red spat out, and then strode over to your bed and sat heavily by your knees. “look…i might be an asshole but i do care about’cha. i…uh…your…my…friend…”

You saw the struggle in his face. You reached out and placed your hand on his shoulder gently. “I shouldn’t have said that to you…I was upset, but that doesn’t…uh, really excuse it?”

He snorted, “m’not upset with you…don’t gotta apologize, sweetheart.”

“No. I do. Uh..” you scratched your cheek, “Stretch…kinda scolded me? For saying that to you?”

Red snorted, shifting so he was facing you instead of away. His femur rested against your thigh. “stretch?”

“Well, he more told me that you care about me,” you explained, fiddling with a stray thread on the blanket. “I…uh…kinda realized that I was being selfish today and-“

Red barked out a laugh, but it was sharp and humorless. “what the hell are ya talkin’ bout?”

“I mean, I broke into your guys’ house, imposing on your guys’ morning. Then I phoned Frisk who nearly was late for the ambassadors meeting because of me. Then-“ you were cut off when he placed a hand on your knee.

“sweetheart, y’ain’t selfish. yer…uh,” he started, but then sweat beaded along his skull, “yer…”

You could see panic building in his skull as more magical sweat beginning to build. His gaze started sliding to the side as if debating if he could shortcut away from you quick enough. You quickly grabbed his hand, “Red. It’s okay.”

After a moment of staring at you with wide eye lights, he seemed to calm down. Quiet chuckling coming from him as he dropped his gaze to the bed. “this whole talkin’ bout emotions is…not…id rather you be yellin’ at me.”

“You don’t deserve my anger, Red,” you squeezed his hand again. “I…don’t think I could even get angry right now? I’m...” you hesitated, knowing that he didn’t do emotions well. He just demonstrated that. It got him anxious. Where he grew up in the Underground, you knew it wasn’t good. Emotions were viewed as weaknesses, caring for someone could end them getting killed to get to you. “You’re one of my best friends, Red.”

You saw a spike of anxiety dart through him, but he squeezed your hand back. “hehe…s-same ta ya…s’why m’here.”

They were always there for you. When you and Frisk broke up, as mutual as it was, still hurt. You had informed one of the brothers and you were invited over for a game night without Frisk because you had told them you would understand if they didn’t ask you to hang out anymore. They had been there for you when your mother died a few months after that. When you were fired from your job, illegally, they were there for you.

Now they were there for you again.

You couldn’t stop the tears, as much as you tried. They welled up hot and stinging as you tried to remove your hand from Red’s, but he tightened it slightly. “uh…sweetheart, why…why are ya cryin?”

When you tried to speak, it just came out as a blubbering mess. Unable to get your hand from his grip, you used your other hand to wipe at your eyes.

What the hell did you do to deserve friends like these? Who would drop everything just to help you? Who the hell were you? They were all important; they were ambassadors for fuck's sake!

Finally, your hand was released, and you covered your face with both hands, managing to get out a weak “m’s-s-s-orrryyy,” as you tried to get yourself to stop crying. You felt the weight by your legs disappear, and for a startling moment you were scared he had left you, but then arms wrapped around your shoulders and drew you into a bony chest.

“hey….uh, it’s…okay?” his words were strained, but you twisted in his grip. You clung to the back of his jacket and buried your face into the fur lining. It smelt like mustard, which was just as comforting as you thought it would be. His fingers hesitantly started stroking your hair, and he began to mutter stupid comforting words that you swore he got from a cheesy romance novel.

Still, you felt yourself calming down, and then Egg let out a grumpy meow as Red shifted onto the bed with you again. When you finally pulled away from him, the two of you were lying side by side on the bed.

“i’d kill the bastard if it would make ya feel better,” Red grumbled, with just enough lightness to his tone that you figured he was only half-joking. You wiped at your face and sent him an exasperated look. He grinned, tilting his head perfectly, so the light glinted off of it in an almost menacing way. You couldn’t help but let out a soft huff of a laugh.

“Do you practice that?” you asked, shifting your head, so it wasn’t entirely in the fur lining of the hood. His grin softened, and he gently squeezed you closer to him.

“just for ya,” he said with a wink. “so...how’d’ja get into the house this morning? pretty sure we locked the door.”

“Magic,” you said again, which just got you a look.

“com’on, wont tell anyone else.”

After a moment of debating, you leaned closer to him and whispered, “I know how to pick a lock.”

“how in the hell d’ya know that?” he asked, sounding genuinely surprised. You smiled and pretended to zip your lips, lock it, and throw away the key. “fine…keep yer secrets.”

You giggled at that. It was actually…really boring. You knew a kid in high school whose father worked as a locksmith. The two of you fell quiet, you cuddled up to Red’s side, and him gently running his fingers down your arm. Egg eventually hopped over your side and settled herself onto Red’s chest and started up her purring. Turning into a little cat loaf. You kissed the side of her head, and she pressed her little cute ass face into yours and nuzzled you.

“well if that ain’t the cutest thing,” Red mumbled, and you peered up to see him faintly blushing, but looking more relaxed than…than…well ever? You smiled at that.

Your phone vibrated beneath your hip, and you lifted yourself up slightly to retrieve it. Red’s fingers were gently stroking your arm as you read the text.

**Chad 12:01 AM:** Come back bby I miss you

**Chad 12:01 AM: **I swear it was a one time thing

**Chad 12:01 AM: **[img_010291]

Red reached over and tapped the download button before you could tell him not to. A very unflattering picture of your ex’s dick loaded, and Red plucked the phone from your hands. For once you were thankful someone snatched your phone from your hands, you really..._really_ did not want to see that. Never again.

“that’s what he was packin?” Red said, eyes squinting dramatically.

You snorted at that, “I wasn’t with him for his dick.”

“what were ya with him for then? ain’t his personality,” Red grumbled and you grabbed the phone back as he started to type out a message back to Chad. You deleted the message without reading it, and placed it out of his reach.

You sighed, cuddling back into Red’s side. “He wasn’t…all bad…but now? Stars, what was I thinking?” you mumbled sadly, “I mean, he’s been texting me all day telling me how it was a mistake as if he tripped and somehow his dick got in her? Like??? How does that make sense??”

“yeah, who th’hell does he think he is?” Red snorted. “has he even apologized?”

“NO!” you blurted out, “He hasn’t! Who the hell does that? Like, is he thinking ‘I really fucking betrayed my girlfriend and completely shattered the trust between us. A fucking dick pic will fix this!’”

“not even a good one, either.”

“Does he think his dick is some sort of special gift that makes everything better? It’s not!” your voice raised again, and you felt anger starting to bubble in your chest. “How the hell did I date him with how self-centered he is? Was I wearing rose-coloured glasses or was he really good at hiding it? How the hell did he trick _Frisk _into thinking he was okay?” the slight anger was starting to fade, “I mean Frisk didn’t set us up, but they normally have better judgment of character than that… or…was I an idiot or something? I mean-”

“nah, sweetheart, he’s the idiot,” Red interrupted, squeezing you a bit more. “losing a doll like you.”

“Yeah!” you shouted, and then instantly slapped a hand over your mouth. Red snickered.

“hell yeah, sweetcheeks!!” he said, his own voice raising, “tell me how ya really feel about the asshole!”

A giddiness rolled through you, replacing the anger instantly, “Fuck him! I’m a fucking catch and he’s the loser who decided to betray me!” you flopped onto your back, “I don’t need him in my life!”

“ya dont need nobody, yer a fucking badass!” Red poked your side, causing you to let out a startled yelp and jerked slightly, but you were still smiling. He rolled onto his side, displacing Egg rudely. Who let out a rather comically mrow before darting off the bed. You gave Red a weak glare, but after supporting his skull with a fist, he grinned down at you. You couldn’t help but grin back at him, before rolling towards him and pulling him into a hug.

“Thanks, Sans,” you murmured, before placing a chaste kiss against his cheekbone. When you pull away his entire skull is lit up red like a Christmas tree. You grinned even bigger at the sight, and he sat up quickly. Egg hissed at the sudden movement but settled back down quickly at your feet. You hadn’t even realized she jumped back onto the bed.

“i…uh…should let ya sleep,” he blurted out, voice louder than normal. He swung his legs off the side of the bed. “now that…uh…yer feelin’ better.”

Before you could say anything, he disappeared.

Red appeared in his room. His entire face still bright red. You…kissed his cheek. His fingers shakingly lifted and touched the spot where your soft lips met his bone. He’d seen you give some of the other skeletons friendly smooches…but you never did to him. Probably cus of his sometimes lewd advances during the stretch of time between when you and Frisk had broken up and when you started dating…Brad? Mike? Chad? Whatever the fuck his name was.

He removed his jacket and then flopped onto his mattress. His SOUL was singing in his chest, and he placed his hand over it.

Fuck.

If the others didn’t grow the bones to tell you they were your SOULmates…he’d do it himself.

Having you in his arms…everything had clicked. You were his, and he was yours.

Well, you were his…and his brothers, and the other assholes.

If you never wanted to be with him in a romantic sense…he’d deal with it…but he needed to tell you what you were to him.

If you gave him more kisses, more touches, more cuddles…

The smile he fell asleep with was sweeter than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave any suggestions about shenanigans that you want to see all the boys get into with the Reader! I've got a few ideas up my sleeves but I also want to make sure you guys have some input especially if there is a scenario you REALLY want to see included. 
> 
> As always here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Red was back to his normal self. Bad flirting attempts and all. Though, this time none of the others told him to quit it, and neither did you. It was just who he was, and...well, you didn’t mind when people you knew complimented you or told you bad pick up lines. There was no reason for him to not to anymore. Before you didn’t like it because...well honestly, the few times that your boyfriend hung out with you and the skeletons it made Chad super pissed and quite a few times the two of them had nearly come to blows.

Then again, hindsight was 20-20.

You were sure the more you analyzed your relationship with him, the more you’d find things you weren’t okay with.

So, you didn’t.

Instead, after a majority of the skeletons had headed out for their day jobs, you had driven yourself to a clinic to get tested for STI’s. Chad might be trying to convince you that he had _only _been with your step-sister, but you weren’t going to risk it. Even if he had, you didn’t know if your step-sister hadn’t been sleeping with other people either.

If you had anything, you were going to kill them both.

Not really, but you’d kick both of their asses.

Or just…be really fucking mad.

It took up a majority of the day, mostly because you had chickened out initially and sat in Muffet’s for almost two hours before talking yourself into actually going. You could do it by yourself…and it didn’t hurt that Red had pumped you up last night.

“_ya dont need nobody, yer a fucking badass!_”

You rewarded yourself with a burger and fries from Grillby’s before commandeering one of his booths to do some apartment searching. You had wanted to do it the first thing that morning, but you decided that getting tested was pretty important as well. It was at the top of your list, really. Everything else could come second.

Unfortunately, you quickly figured out that for every one decent apartment there was at _least_ twenty shitty ones.

Too expensive.

Cats not allowed.

Shady area that you _really_ didn’t want to live in.

Ex cetera, ex cetera.

It was exhausting, honestly. Especially when you found an apartment that you could afford from the listed rent, _and_ it allowed cats…just to figure out that the rent didn’t include utilities, or didn’t include an additional fee when you actually read more into it.

You did manage to schedule a few viewings for some apartments after a few hours of searching….and a few mugs of coffee that Grillby had brought over to your table. He’d heard your plight and sympathized, finding a place he could afford on the surface was a nightmare in the big city.

Someone slid into the booth across from you and you saw the familiar smile of Sans, or Classic as the others called him. You grinned back at him.

“Don’t you work today?” you asked, taking the opportunity to not focus on your potential homelessness.

“yeah, im on break,” he winked at you before snatching a couple of your fries and popped them into his mouth. “what’re you doing here?”

“Apartment searching,” you said, gesturing towards the screen. Sans moved over to your side of the booth and you shifted over so he could see your screen better. His eye sockets semi-squinting. After a moment he leaned back and took an unhealthy swig of straight ketchup without needing to open his mouth.

“s’anti-monster,” he muttered gesturing towards the ad.

You furrowed your brow, re-reading the description. “How do you know?”

“when black n’ mutt were trying to get an apartment when they moved out they were quoted triple that,” Sans explained, with a shrug.

“ugh,” you groaned sinking slightly into the booth and rubbed at your eyes. How many other places would be anti-monster? You had a few other monster friends excluding the skeleton brothers, and you knew you’d be inviting them all over at some point or another. There were some landlords who would find any reason to increase your rent if they figured out you were a ‘monster sympathizer’. You switched over to the window where you had the apartments you were going to see and turned your laptop towards him. “What about these?”

He scratched at his jaw before leaning closer to you, even if he didn’t need to, and quickly browsed through them. Thankfully, only one additional listing had been unfair to his cousins. You assumed this ‘Black n’ Mutt’ were his cousins at least. Well…’cousins’.

“If I can’t find a place, I might have to get a second job…” you grumbled as he turned the laptop back towards you. “Know any good part-time gigs?” you joked, and he grinned down at you.

“might know a place or two. you good at stacking?” he asked, elbowing your shoulder lightly before downing the rest of his ketchup. “but, don’t worry. _brew_ can find a good place.”

You smiled as he tapped a phalange against the side of your mug of coffee and winked at you.

“_Bean _looking all day but thanks for the vote of confidence, Sans,” you said stretching lightly.

That was all it took to start a pun-off with the blue-hoodied skeleton. Not that you were much competition, you honestly wondered if Sans just spent all night committing puns to memory. Him and a few of the others. Eventually, he had to head back to work and headed out with a quick goodbye to Grillby and the other patrons.

You gave up looking for apartments and turned your attention to looking for cheap furniture. Most of the apartments that were cheap didn’t come with any furniture, and even if you wanted to fight your ex to split the furniture you had no place to store it yet.

You had been saving up to go on a vacation next year with Chad, but that was obviously not happening anymore, so you had extra money to spend on furniture. The most important thing you needed was a mattress. Even if the entire apartment was empty save the few items you brought and a mattress, you’d be fine. Everything else you could save up to afford later.

After a while, you sighed and cleaned up. Grillby waved at you as you headed out of his bar.

Once you popped by the post office to get your mail forwarded to the skeletons house, you headed back.

A few of the skeletons were home already. Blue and Papyrus greeted you cheerfully as they raked the front yard from the fallen leaves. You stopped by to see how they’re work was but Blue shooed you into the house because apparently you weren’t appropriately dressed enough for the cool day. Stretch was lounging in the living room as you past it and he called out a lazy ‘welcome home’.

It was strange being welcomed when you got home, when you lived with Chad he always got home later than you.

Was it because he was working…or other reasons?

God. You were going to doubt every single thing he did now, weren’t you? Oh well. It was over…but it still didn’t hurt any less.

You tossed your things away and let Egg out from your room. If no one was home, you felt better that she was in locked in your room. The skeletons house was nearly a mansion in its size and she was a mischieve maker when she was alone. That reminded you that you didn’t have a scratching post for her as you had left the cat tower with your ex.

A bit of self directed anger was starting to bubble in your stomach.

The sound of dishes being clanked around in the kitchen provided a distraction from your inner thoughts. That must be Edge preparing to start dinner, and you first thought was to go help him. You weren’t really a guest, so it was the least you could do. Besides…out of all the skeletons, Edge probably was able to cook the least.

Edge was wearing his apron, the one that said ‘Eat it or Starve’, and examining a recipe for dinner. His brow was furrowed slightly, and his fingers were lightly tapping out a beat on the counter. Once you leaned against the counter, his eye lights flicked over to you. “WOULD YOU LIKE SOMETHING?”

“Do you need help with dinner?” you asked.

“I SUPPOSE. ONLY IF YOU DO NOT GET IN THE WAY,” he gestured towards the cupboard, “PUT ON AN APRON.”

You did as you were told, grabbing the first one you could which was a cute pink frilly thing that said ‘Kiss the <strike>Cook </strike>Skeleton’ on it. Edge turned around and stared down at you as you tied it around your waist. He cleared his throat and turned back around. “NORMALLY I WILL MAKE LASANGA, BUT I AM OPEN TO IDEAS. AS LONG AS IT ISN’T SPAGETTI, TACOS, OR BURRITOS.”

After a bit of debate, and looking in the cupboards, the two of you decided to attempt making baked stuffed pasta shells with a recipe that Edge found online. The two of you got to work, falling into companionable silence. It was nice cooking with Edge, you actually couldn’t really believe you hadn’t cooked with any of the skeletons before. Well, at least with Edge, Papyrus, and Blue. The others didn’t cook as far as you were aware.

Your phone kept ringing in your pocket so you took it out and set it on the counter, hoping that it would stop eventually. Unfortunately, that just pissed Edge off. He glared over at your phone with the heat of a thousand suns, as if just the glare alone would get it to stop going off.

It did…briefly.

And then started again.

“OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. TURN THE STARS DAMN THING OFF!” he snapped, trying to reach around you to grab the phone. You pushed his arm away lightly, and earned a scowl.

“I’m actually waiting for a call from an apartment, they said they’d be phoning before five. I can turn it to vibrate but then I’ll have to keep going over to check it whenever it goes off,” you sighed, “I’m as annoyed as you are, Edge. Trust me.”

“I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT,” he scoffed, before turning his glare back at the phone. “WHO IS CALLING YOU SO MUCH THEN?”

You gave him a look, and took the pasta off the stove top to drain. “Who do you think?” you said drily, “If he’s not calling he’s texting and-“

Your ringing stopped mid-call and you peered over your shoulder to see Edge holding it to his skull. You could faintly hear Chad talking on the other end but you weren’t able to make out what he was saying. Whatever it was, Edge did not seem amused by it…not that you could ever see Edge being amused by your ex. Unless he was doing something extra pathetic. You quickly abandoned the pasta in the drainer and tried to grab the phone from Edge but he just placed a hand on your shoulder and kept you at a distance.

“ARE YOU FINISHED?” Edge asked finally, and you heard the indignant sputtering of surprise from Chad. “GOOD. DO YOU REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE CALLED TEN TIMES IN THE PAST THIRTY MINUTES? DO YOU KNOW ABSOLOUTELY PATHETIC AND INFURITATING YOU ARE? I HAVE STAYED MY HAND IN THIS SITUATION HUMAN, YOU SHOULD THANK THE STARS THAT AT LEAST ONE OF US RESPECTS THE DECISIONS OF YOUR **EX-**DATEMATE OR YOU WOULD FEEL THE WRATH OF THE TERRIBLE AND GREAT EDGE. AND-“ Edge quieted for a moment as your ex interrupted him, and then Edge laughed. Which was not good. It was not a good laugh. A sharp biting one that made your brows furrow. What had Chad said? “I KNOW PLENTY ABOUT THE HUMAN LAWS, YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING WALNUT.” You mouthed walnut at him, shaking your head in confusion but he continued ignoring you.

“YOUR ACTIONS CAN BE CONSITITUED AS HARRASSMENT, AND IF YOU DO NOT STOP IMMEDIATELY, THE AUTHORITIES WILL BE CONTACTED.”

He hung up, and then handed the phone back to you.

“Walnut?” you asked immediately, tucking the phone into your pocket, hopefully the next call you would get was from the apartment manager.

“I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN MORE CREATIVE WITH THE INSULT BUT HE’S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT,” Edge said simply, turning back to the stuffing he was working on. “NOW, WHERE WAS I BEFORE WE WERE RUDELY INTERUPTED?”

Before he could even resume your phone went off and he whirled around, glaring at your butt. However, it was a different ringtone so you knew it wasn’t him, and as you pulled out your phone you grinned at Edge. “Whoa, what did my ass do to you?” you asked as you shook your phone and pointed out of the kitchen. Before he could form a response that wasn’t sputtering and a bright red blush, you hurried from the room answering the call.

It was a short call….and it left you disappointed. You had hoped they were calling to inform you that you were chosen for the apartment, but you were called just to inform you that another applicant had been chosen instead. They offered you a more expensive apartment but you declined, thanking them for letting you know that you didn’t get the apartment.

Damnit! That was such a promising apartment too! You rubbed your face roughly.

Okay. Okay. Calm down. It had only been two days. If you just kept trying, you’d find one eventually that was cat-friendly and wouldn’t find a way to bump up the rent or evict you because you had monster friends. You took a deep calming breath before you headed back into the kitchen.

Edge was in the process of stuffing the large pasta shells and after washing your hands you slid beside him to finish assisting him with the meal.

“Hey…uh, thanks for dealing with Chad,” you muttered quietly, “You didn’t have to and that was pretty annoying that he just kept calling even though I told him to not do that unless he had something useful to say…”

“HE DIDN’T.”

“Hm?” you glanced up at him, but he didn’t meet your gaze. His focus fully on putting the stuffing in the shells.

“HE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING USEFUL TO SAY. A BUNCH OF BULLSHIT. WHY HAVEN’T YOU BLOCKED HIS NUMBER?” he asked, only then looking down at you to search your face as if the answer would be written on your face.

“Just in case he does have something important to say,” you murmur, “Like an apology? Or to tell me that I got mail to the house by accident? I don’t want bills to go there and he not tell me and I get debt collectors because I didn’t get the bill.”

That seemed to quell his anger slightly, and soon all of the shells were stuffed and Edge slid the dish into the oven to bake. You took off the apron and hung it back where it belonged.

“WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A ROUND OF CHESS WHILE WE WAIT FOR DINNER, SWEETHEAR-“ his jaw snapped shut and you turned around. Did…he just call you…sweetheart? Your mouth dropped open and you saw an even more pronounced blush light up his face as he resolutely looked away from you.

“Sweetheart?” you asked, gently. “Edge…is Red rubbing off on you?”

“NO!!” he spat out, stiffly taking off his own apron and ignoring your gaze. “IT WAS A SLIP OF THE TONGUE.”

“You don’t have a tongue.”

“I KNOW THAT. I WOULD NEVER CALL YOU…THAT INTENTIONALLY. I JUST HEAR THAT INSUFFERABLE LOUT CALL YOU IT TOO MUCH,” he raged, stiff and looking anywhere but you. You smiled warily. He was embarrassed.

“Well, I didn’t hate that you called me it,” you reassured him, and his head whipped towards you.

“OF COURSE!” he said, his blush fading slightly as he puffed up, hands going to his hips. “BECAUSE IT WAS ME WHO SAID IT. NOT THAT I WILL EVER SAY IT AGAIN.”

“Say what again? Oh! Did you still want to play that round of chess? I haven’t played in a while, so I could really use some tips,” you said, smiling innocently up to him. It wasn’t often that Edge got embarrassed, the last time was when he had done something for you without you needing to ask and he got teased by the other skeletons until he stormed from the room. You weren’t going to tease him for a ‘slip of the tongue’, not when he was so uncomfortable by it.

“PREPARE TO LOSE!” Edge said, his relief almost palpable as he guided you from the room to where their chessboard was set up.


	6. Chapter 6

“ANY LUCK TODAY?” Papyrus asked as he emptied the freshly popped popcorn into three separate bowls.

You sighed softly, “Unfortunately, no...if I didn’t have Egg it wouldn’t be a problem.”

He nodded, “IT’S A SHAME. I AM NOT GENERALLY FOND OF SMALL WHITE DOGS, BUT YOURS IS VERY WELL BEHAVED. SHE HAS NEVER CHEWED ON MY BONES!”

That made you giggle, “I’m glad you tolerate her and she isn’t chewing on anyone.” The tall skeleton shot you a grin before returning his attention back down to preparing snacks for movie night. “I have found a couple...but the commute to work would take me like forty-five minutes with good traffic if I drove.”

“ALL THE MORE REASON TO KEEP LOOKING UNTIL YOU FIND THAT PERFECT PLACE! IT TOOK US A LONG TIME TO FIND THIS HOUSE, BUT THAT WAS NOT DUE TO MONEY OR COMMUTE. IT’S VERY HARD TO FIND A TEN BEDROOM HOUSE IN EBOTT CITY. ” Papyrus complained lightly. “AS WE HAVE SAID. YOU ARE WELCOME TO STAY AS LONG AS YOU NEED IT.”

“Ah...thank you, Paps,” you smiled gently, “I...don’t want to impose, so if I overstay let me know?”

“IMPOSSIBLE. BUT IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER, IF SUCH AN EVENT DOES HAPPEN (WHICH IT WILL NOT BECAUSE WE ENJOY YOUR COMPANY TOO MUCH), I WILL TELL YOU,” he promises with a dashing grin before taking a step back to examine the snacks and goods for the movie night. After determining that the two of you had prepared enough, the two of you gathered up as many bowls and plates of snacks and headed into the entertainment room.

It took a couple of trips and Blue quickly offering to help before all the food, drinks, and condiments were laid out on the coffee table in front of the sectional.

“So, what’ve we decided?” you asked after tossing Red a bottle of mustard, he winked at you before taking a deep swig of the yellow condiment.

“they’re still debating between napastaton and mettaton,” Stretch informed you, and then patted the sectional beside him. When you didn’t move, the patting grew more insistent and his eye sockets began flicking between you and the spot. You grinned, but didn’t move, watching as he added another hand. Blue sat down, leaving enough space between you and his brother, before joining his brother in patting the sectional. With a dramatic sigh, you headed over and swatted away their hands before plopping down.

“Why not both, one movie from Napstaton and one from Mettaton?” you suggested, honestly, you didn’t realize that Napstaton made movies; you thought he was a DJ. It was a good suggestion...but then Edge and Papyrus started arguing over_ which_ Mettaton movie to watch while Blue selected one of his favourite movies and put it in.

Sans shuffled into the room with an armful of blankets, which Papyrus helped him dole out. You wrapped the big fluffy blanket around you until all that was visibly was one hand and your head. The hand was only because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to snack on your hard work.

Egg meandered into the room, getting a glare from Edge, who muttered ‘Demon Spawn’ under his breath and resolutely turned his attention back to the screen. Of course, what does your stupidly sweet cat do? Marches right over to the one skeleton who wouldn’t want her on his lap and plops herself down after rubbing against his crossed arms. The glare your cat got did not dissuade her. But, he didn’t do anything to get the cat to leave his lap.

Napstaton...really shouldn’t be in the movie industry, you realized. His acting was worse than Mettaton’s and that was saying something. Stretch had fallen asleep with an arm thrown over the back of the couch, and his head lolled towards you, within ten minutes of the opening sequence. It was so bad but there was still an amusing factor to it. You glanced over at Edge, who hadn’t shooed Egg off his lap, and then took in the rest of the skeletons. Papyrus and Blue were both watching intently, while Red and Sans looked one step away from joining Stretch in slumber. Red passed out probably the moment your eyes landed on him as well, which you didn’t know if he did because he _knew _you were looking or if he was actually tired.

The doorbell and everyone’s heads (those who were awake at least) swivelled to look in the direction of the door.

Egg skittered away to find some place to hide, drawing your attention away from the door. Still not used to the new doorbell.

Papyrus jumped up, “I WILL GET IT, YOU LAZY BONES!”

You knew that if it was the Mettaton movie he would’ve paused the movie, but he was out the door before anyone could suggest pausing it for him. After a moment, the others attentions drifted back to the movie. You felt Stretch stiffen ever so slightly beside you, and your curiosity spiked. It wasn’t really your business who was at the door; however, it wasn’t your house.

Still, when you didn’t hear Papyrus’ voice, or see him returning, you stood up and shook off your blanket. You were a curious person at nature, and you also had to use the washroom. The perfect excuse for being nosy.

“where’re you going?” Stretch asked, suspiciously fully awake when he had been ‘sleeping’ a few moments ago.

“To the washroom,” you gestured towards the door.

None of them tried to stop you, but you saw Sans’ hand reaching out towards you as you past. It missed your wrist when you purposefully lifted your hand up to cover a semi-fake yawn.

Now, why would Sans try to touch you out of the blue like that? Why did Stretch ask where you were going instead of asking if you wanted them to pause the movie? Why did he stiffen when Papyrus answered the door? Why couldn’t you hear Papyrus’ voice?

If it was boring, then you’d just head into the washroom, do your business, and then head back into the entertainment room. Regardless, you would figure out what had the others on edge.

As you stepped out from the hallway, your eyes immediately locked onto Papyrus’ back. He was talking quietly, as you had suspected. Not his usual boisterous voice that on a good day you could hear from nearly anywhere in the house if you listened.

“Hey, Paps, everything okay?” you called, resting your hand on the bathroom door knob.

The moment you spoke, someone ducked under Papyrus’ arm and entered the house. You paled at the sight of your ex staring at you with thinly veiled irritation.

“I knew you were here,” he grumbled, casting a glare at Papyrus.

“I NEVER SAID SHE WASN’T,” Papyrus clarified, his voice immediately returning to the loud volume now, placing his hands on his hips. “I MERELY SAID THAT IF SHE WANTED YOU TO KNOW WHERE SHE WAS, SHE WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU.”

“What do you want?” you forced out, suddenly glad you had grabbed the bathroom door handle. Your hand tightened around it as you forced yourself to take relaxing breaths.

“You’ve been ignoring my texts and phone calls...and I wanted to talk to you about what happened,” he said, crossing his arms and looking every bit of a petulant child as he could. Your eyes flicked over to Papyrus, who was staring at the back of Chad’s head as if he was trying to figure out one of his puzzles. Your gaze shifted to the hallway and saw a brief flash of colour before it was empty once again. Why they bothered to teleport away, you didn’t know.

“I...guess?” you muttered, and then gestured behind him. “But...we’ll talk outside. They didn’t particularly like you before,” you released the door handle. Papyrus only stepped aside once you crossed the room. He placed a hand on your head as you waited for Chad to exit the house first.

“I WILL WAIT HERE, IF YOU NEED ANYTHING JUST SHOUT!” he said, beaming down at you. “BUT I DOUBT YOU WILL NEED MY HELP WITH ANYTHING!”

You honestly didn’t know if that was a clever threat towards Chad, or just a vote of confidence towards your ability to talk through conversations. Perhaps both! You smiled weakly up at him before you stepped out of the house and gently closed the door.

“Why’d you block my number?” Chad asked immediately, and you frowned slightly. When did you block his number? Did Edge do that when he threatened to involve the authorities? Oh god...you hoped that Edge didn’t call over the monster authorities...you didn’t want this to escalate that much right now. You’d have to ask Edge if he did that later, it wasn’t that you were really upset with him, but he should’ve asked you first if it was okay rather than just going ahead and doing it. That crossed a boundary.

“I was getting a little tired of constantly being messaged,” you retorted, crossing your arms. There was no reason to throw Edge under the bus, and honestly, if Chad thought you did it? Well, hopefully he got the message better that you really didn’t want to talk to him.

You couldn’t even really look at him, eyes drifting towards the yard instead.

“Look,” he said, taking a step towards you which you matched by taking two steps back. You didn’t care to see his reaction. He let out a sigh that might’ve sounded regretful if you knew he didn’t regret what he did. If he did, maybe he would’ve apologized by now. “I meant what I said. It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have done that. I-I regret it.”

“You only regret it because you got caught,” you spat out before you could stop yourself.

It was all he needed before words started spewing forth. He was spouting a bunch of bullshit about how it’s not his fault, at all. “If you think about it, it’s your fault because you never wanted to have sex. You _knew_ I have a sex addiction, and you weren’t doing anything to help me out! I mean, I help you with your mental health problems.

You bit your cheek to stop from lashing out, you knew the moment you did he’d twist it around and say that _you_ were being irrational which would make you even angrier. Did you want to scream at him? Slam your knee into his crotch? Storm back into the house and slam the door hard enough that it would break the glass? Yes. Would that be inconsiderate of your housemates? Yes. Did you want your housemates involved in this? No.

So, you took a deep breath, and instead said, “Maybe you should look into getting some professional help for your sex ‘addiction’ because it’s clearly causing issues with your personal relationships. I know a good therapist if you’d like.”

Chad visibly recoiled at that, and you finally met his gaze. The disbelief and then angry in his eyes just made you defensive and your bit your cheek harder. Nope. Keep it quiet and calm. This wasn’t anyones business besides yours and Chad. Don’t cause a scene.

“This isn’t my fault,” he shot back, “It’s yours.”

“How?” you asked through your teeth. You felt tears pricking at the corner of your eyes. Oh no. You were _not _crying in front of him for whatever reason. Hell no. He did not get to see how he affected you. He didn’t get to know how much you were hurting right now. He didn’t have the fucking right. You blinked rapidly and the tears faded slightly.

“I told you! I don’t need a therapist for this, and nothing would’ve happened if you had just been more willing to have sex more often. I don’t fucking get why you’re so mad? I respected it when you said no!” he gestured towards you. Your eyebrows flew up at him. “Besides, come on, who is going to be with you if it isn’t me? No one wants to date someone who’s fucked two guys-“

“Don’t refer to Frisk as a ‘guy’ they don’t like that,” you interrupted sharply, your anger flaring, “and you fucking know that.”

Chad rolled his eyes at you and you clenched your hands together tightly. “Sorry, who has fucked two ‘people’,” he emphasised the word almost sarcastically and your blood felt hot. Near boiling. Just...deep breaths. Remember, you don’t want to worry the others or piss off the neighbours by shouting so late at night...not that the neighbours would hear that well. Your gaze glanced over to the side of the property. Maybe...no, you wouldn’t cause the skeletons distress.

“Come on. I still want to be with you...and if you promise to have more sex with me you won’t ever have to worry about me cheating on you again. I love _you_ after all, all of you,” his voice was soft, but the words? You swallowed the biting words you wanted to say.

“No.”

“No?” Chad asked, laughter in his voice. “Why not? It was one little mistake.”

“Little?” your voice rose and the amusement died instantly on his face. “You cheated on me with my _sister_, and you think that it was my fault because you can’t keep your dick in your pants? Ho-“

“It is! But it doesn’t matter! Because I love you, doesn’t that mean anything to you? Please...just understand,” he snapped his voice taking on a betrayed tone, matched with a fairly believably regrettable grimace. “Please...I’d do anything to make this right.”

“Apologize.”

“What?”

You gestured towards him, “Apologize to me.”

“I...I’m sorry?” he said glancing around as if trying to find a ‘trick’ to what you had asked. All the anger sapped out of you at that, replaced with just dejected acceptance.

There wasn’t a trick.

It was just a request.

That he obviously failed. Big Time.

“Of course...” you muttered, before glancing over at the door. You could see the skeletons standing in their foyer, pointedly not looking at the door...but you knew they could hear everything. “Look...do you have something to actually say or can you leave? The bros don’t like you and I’m already inconveniencing them by living here while I find a new apartment,” you said, rubbing at your arm.

“You’re _living _here?” he blurted out, arm jerking out towards the door. “That was fast...were you fucking one of them?”

“What kind of fucked up logic is that? They’re my friends and they offered to help me out. Besides, _I_ would never cheat on a significant other,” you snapped back jabbing him in the chest with a finger, “You huge sack of shit.”

“I bet it was that Red fucker, always getting touchy with you. Bet he finally couldn’t handle the rejection anymore and-“

You slapped him. Hard.

“Don’t talk like that about him!” you snarled, “Don’t talk about any of them like that. Get the hell out of here before I make good on Edge’s threat and call the cops on you for harassment.”

“If you think I’m leaving with you, you’re stupider than I thought!” Chad snapped back grabbing your arm. You let out a startled yelp as his fingernails dug into your sensitive underarm.

Before you could really process what was happening, bones shot up around Chad let out a surprised yelp but he couldn’t jump away due to the bones behind him as well. The door opened and Papyrus stepped out.

“Let Her Go,” Papyrus said, his voice even and low.

It sent a shiver down your back...he’d never, _ever_ spoken like that before. Chad’s fingers immediately released you as he stared at Papyrus in shock. “Thi-This doesn’t involve you, freak.”

Papyrus’ eyes narrowed slightly before he grinned and placed his hands on his hips. You noticed he was purposefully leaning over your ex, but there was no more malice on his face. “I TOLD HER TO SHOUT IF SHE NEEDED MY HELP, AND SHE DID! SO IT’S NOW MY BUSINESS. NOW! I BELIEVE SHE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE, SO PLEASE LEAVE! IT WAS NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, HUMAN. HOWEVER, **YOU** HAVE OVERSTAYED YOUR WELCOME. YOU UNFORTUNATELY CAME DURING OUR WEEKLY MOVIE NIGHT AND WE’VE HAD TO PAUSE IT BECAUSE WE WERE WORRIED SHE’D MISS A KEY PART OF THE PLOT! BUT DON’T WORRY, I’M SURE THAT IF SHE WISHES TO SEE YOU AGAIN, SHE’LL CONTACT YOU! THANK YOU!”

Papyrus dropped only one side of the bone cage. Chad stared at Papyrus, eyes wide and then they flickered over to you and then back immediately. “Uh...I-“

“OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. GET THE FUCK OFF OF OUR PROPERTY, YOU ABSOLUTE WASTE OF SPACE,” Edge snapped from inside.

Chad spun around and immediately bumped into Red.

Whose eye lights were gone.

“ya better hope we don’t run into each other, capiche?” Red snarled quietly. Chad slowly nodded, before slowly edging around Red’s form and hightailing it down the path to his car. You watched as he got into the car. When you turned around, Papyrus scooped you into his arms.

“I AM SORRY! I KNOW THAT YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH THAT BY YOURSELF (YOU ARE DOING REALLY WELL DURING OUR SELF DEFENSE CLASSES AFTER ALL) BUT! I COULDN’T HELP MYSELF WHEN I HEARD YOU YELP,” Papyrus apologized, and carried you towards the kitchen. “HUMANS BRUISE LIKE PEACHES, SO WE SHOULD GET SOME MONSTER CANDY IN YOU BEFORE THAT CAN HAPPEN.”

“Papyrus, I’m fine,” you insisted, but didn’t fight more than that. It...had been a long time since anyone had picked you up, and after that? Well, you really wanted the contact. It made you feel less alone, and your heart was still beating heavily in your chest from Chad grabbing you.

Papyrus gently placed you on the counter before darting over to the pantry, a moment of rustling, and then he was back in front of you handing you a small monster candy. You unwrapped it and popped it into your mouth immediately. The sensation of eating monster food never ceased to amaze you, it was like eating cotton candy. Dissolving in your mouth to nothing.

“NOW! LET’S FINISH WATCHING NAPASTATON SO WE CAN WATCH THE REAL TALENT THAT’S METATON!” Papyrus said, picking you back up off the counter and spinning around. The others were lingering around the archway to the kitchen, various levels of veiled anger displayed on their faces. “I DONT THINK IT WILL BE GOOD TO DWELL ON THAT HUMAN’S UNFORTUNATE VISIT TONIGHT.”

There were a few grumbles but Blue quickly perked up and was ushering the group back towards the entertainment room in order to continue watching Napstaton’s movie. Papyrus grinned after them and you patted his shoulder lightly, making him look down at you.

“Thanks, Paps,” you shifted slightly, urging his head closer to you so you could plant a quick kiss to his cheek bone. A light dusting of orange covered his face and he ‘NYEH’d’ before hurrying after the others, a huge grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking News: Douchebag ex continues to be douchebag ex.
> 
> As always here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat~!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got onto my computer 4 hours ago with the intent to upload this, but I kept getting distracted by everything else haha. But! Here it is~!

Three quick, consecutive knocks on your door pulled you out of the blissful semi-slumber you’d been drifting in. It pulled a groan from you as you rolled onto your back and rubbed at your eyes. “..yeah?”

Blue called your name cheerfully from the other side, quiet enough to be respectful, but loud enough that you could hear him through the door. “Want To Go Jogging With Me?”

“hu?” you grunted, flopping your arm around until it found your phone hidden beneath a pillow. Six am. “hnngg....Blue,” you groaned rolling onto your stomach and mumbling into your pillow about the ungodly hour.

“Can I Come In?” Blue asked next, tapping on the door, forcing you to wake up a bit more. You grunted something that honestly could’ve been taken either way. You didn’t care. The door creaked open and you heard him slip in before closing the door softly behind him. “I Miss Passing You During My Morning Jog! So, The Other Day While I Was At Work I Realized That We Could Just Go Jogging Together! We Don’t Have To If You Don’t Want, But I Thought I’d Offer.”

Slowly, you rolled onto your side, huffed, and then pushed yourself into a sitting position. Blue was standing at the foot of your bed, dressed in his usual morning workout outfit. Blue shorts, a white muscle shirt with the words ‘Work out now, tacos later’ printed in blue, and a sweat band around his skull. You stared at him sleepily for a moment and then nodded.

“Gi’me moment,” you rubbed your face, and when you glanced back up you saw his eye lights shifting quickly back to their normal large round orbs, and a faint blue blush across his cheeks. “whu?” you hummed shoving the blankets away from you and swinging your legs to the floor. When he didn’t answer you bit back a yawn and then leapt to your feet. It startled him and you rubbed your face roughly and then turned towards him. “Okay, shoo. Need’a dress.”

“OKAY!” he said, grinning and hurrying from your room, making sure to close the door quietly behind him.

You found that if you...leapt out of bed in the morning without second-guessing the _need_ to get out of bed, you actually got out of bed. There had been too many mornings, especially lately, where you found it hard to get out of bed. Well, if you didn’t have to feed Egg in the mornings...you probably wouldn’t leave your room on your days off. Just wallow in your bed while searching urgently for an apartment.

Heh...there you were thinking of the room as ‘yours’ and the bed as ‘yours’...when they weren’t. You glanced around and then sighed. You...probably should start going back to therapy. Thankfully, your health insurance covered therapy sessions! Or else you really, really, wouldn’t be able to afford it, rent, Egg, and all your other various bills.

Speaking of Egg. She was still sprawled on a spare pillow, tummy exposed to the world, little paw beans flopped outward. You smiled, at least the sight of your little Egg never allowed you to dwell on bad things for long. She kept you going through a lot of stuff. So, you didn’t allow yourself to dwell to heavily on your thoughts and yanked out your workout clothes.

Blue was waiting by the front door for you when you emerged from your room. He was practically vibrating with excitement, handing you a nice cold water bottle. After stretching your muscles to make sure you didn’t get a cramp, you gestured towards the door.

At first, Blue attempted to engage you in conversation but you quickly found yourself out of breath. Guess that’s what happens when you haven’t jogged for the past month and a bit. Even so, you enjoyed his company and his chatter greatly helped distract you during the period of time before your runners high kicked in.

Why didn’t he run with Edge or Papyrus? You knew that they also went for morning jogs. Did Edge just jog earlier in the morning? Or did they just enjoy their lonesome morning jogs? Maybe you’d ask one of the others to go jogging with you if Blue found you too slow or a boring jogging companion. He seemed to be able to easily keep pace with you, barely breaking a sweat.

Eventually, the two of you slowed to a stop at the park.

You were panting and a sweating mess, but you were laughing at a story Blue had finished telling you. He worked security, and sometimes people did strange things when they thought no one was looking. Of course, you were also thinking of all the times you danced to the music in a store when you thought no one was looking...or when you tripped and ate shit in the middle of a department store. The idea that someone had actually seen it was making you cringe inwardly.

“HALFWAY DONE!” Blue declared, checking his watch. “WE’RE MADE BETTER TIME THAN I THOUGHT! ARE YOU PUSHING YOURSELF?”

He put his hands on his hips and studied you closely. You nodded, “Only as much as my body can handle. Don’t worry,” you waved a hand at him to try to dismiss his worries. It seemed to quell his concern and he took a sip of his water while examining the other inhabitants of the park. You guzzled your own water down before wiping at your forehead with the hem of your tank top.

“Ugh. I feel so gross,” you laughingly declared, you were drenched.

Blue’s gaze returned to you, and he reached over, brushing his fingers against your forehead and tucked a loose, very sweaty, piece of hair behind your ear. “HUH,” he said, head tilting, “THAT’S FUNNY.”

“What?” you asked, reaching up and touching your face, “Do I have something on my face?”

“Oh No. It’s Just That, To Me, You Feel Perfect.”

“Oh, I-“ you stopped, and processed what he said. If your face could, it would’ve flushed darker than it currently was. “Hehehe, what? No??? I’m gross and sweaty?” you couldn’t meet his gaze, fiddling with your water bottle, “I’m far from perfect too, I’m not normally this tired by this point. I’ve been slacking. Imperfect and sweaty.”

Blue grinned a devilish grin before reaching forwards and squishing your cheeks with both of his hands. “NOPE~! YOU STILL FEEL PERFECT!”

You couldn’t help but start giggling as he squished your cheeks, but you smacked his hands away, and rubbed at your cheeks. “Oh my god, Blue,” you huffed out. His eye lights shifted to his little stars and you continued to giggle, he was an adorable dork. You thought he was done teasing you when he drank more of his water but the moment one of your hands abandoned your water bottle, he intertwined his own fingers with yours.

He let out a gasp, and you met his gaze finally. “What?”

“I FOUND SOMETHING EVEN MORE PERFECT!”

You frowned slightly, repeating your previous question. He grinned, “Your Hand In Mine.”

“Oh my fucking god, you little flirt! Your worse than Red!” you gasped, feeling your cheeks burning again. What was it with skeletons and flirting with you? What was so neat about you? At least with Red, you were about 65% sure that he was just flirting because that was who he was. Not because he was actually interested in you.

However, your comment made Blue gasp and give you the most offended look you’ve ever seen him direct at you. “I AM NOT LIKE RED! I DO NOT MAKE UNSAVOURY COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR BEHIND OR INVITE YOU TO SALACIOUS AFFAIRS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS! THAT’S FOR AFTER THE THIRD DATE.”

You blinked in surprise. Third...date? “Uh...Blue...is-is this a date?”

“Not Unless You Wish It To Be. I Would Never Rush You Into A Relationship When You Were Just Betrayed By Your Last Datemate. You’re Important To Me. When You Are Ready…I Do Wish To Date You,” he admitted. You searched his face and saw that he was 100% serious. Your stomach did a little flip at the utter adoration in his gaze; his eyes still the little stars.

“Oh...oh shit...uh, I don’t know?” you managed to squeak out. It had only been a month since your boyfriend cheated on you...you weren’t sure if you would be ready to trust someone again like that for a while. Even if it _was _Blue, who invested himself completely in everything he did. “I...don’t know?” you repeated again, dropping your gaze.

Blue lifted your still intertwined hands and gently pressed your knuckles to his teeth, “You Do Not Need To Know. Do You Know What You Need To Know Right Now?”

“No?” you said, unsure.

“IF YOU CAN HANDLE THE JOG BACK TO THE HOUSE OR IF YOU’D RATHER WE WALK. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU’VE JOGGED SINCE MOVING IN WITH US. I WOULD HATE TO PUSH YOU PAST YOUR LIMITS!” he said, eyes returning back to their large blue orbs, and his tone returning to his normal boisterous level.

You were thankful for the conversation change. It wasn’t that you were upset to learn that he was interested in you like that, but you felt awkward and didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t like...well...that you couldn’t see yourself with Blue. If you were completely honest with yourself, you had a crush on the skeletons ever since you broke up with Frisk. They just never really showed any _true _interest in you before so you didn’t want to ruin your friendship. Hell, if one of them had asked you out before Chad had, you would’ve eagerly said yes.

Now? The idea of getting into another relationship was scary. Even if it was with someone you already trusted so much. It made your stomach twist with fear and your blood turn to ice. You didn’t know if you could truly trust someone with your heart and SOUL anytime soon, and you didn’t want to get into a relationship if you couldn’t trust your partner. Most importantly? You couldn’t stand to hurt Blue if you couldn’t handle a relationship.

“I’d rather walk,” you admitted with a thankful smile. He returned the smile.

At least he wasn’t pushy about it, demanding to know why you didn’t know. What you didn’t know. Or try to get you to go on an actual date when it was clear that you weren’t ready for that.

It wasn’t until the two of you were back out of the park did you realize you were still holding onto Blue’s hand. You released it, blushing and being unable to look at him again. He didn’t seem offended or upset that you let go of his hand.

The conversation returned to work-related stories, which was a safe conversation topic, and the slight awkwardness you felt knowing he liked you faded. It was still Blue. You didn’t know how long he had liked you, but it didn’t matter. Hell, even if Red admitted he liked you like that as well, it wouldn’t change how you felt about him. He was still Red.

Well, unless they started acting like they owned you or something stupid because they admitted they had feelings for you. You knew a few guys like that in high school, which always pissed you off.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK PAPYRUS MADE FOR BREAKFAST?” Blue asked as the two of you turned onto the street the brother’s home was on.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll taste great,” you said, and your stomach rumbled in hunger. Maybe you should’ve eaten some fruit before you left? Oh well, you’d get back to the house, shower, and then pig out on breakfast. Blue commented on what he hoped was for breakfast as he opened the gate to the front yard and allowed you to enter first.

Halfway up the walk, you felt nausea building. Oops. Probably should’ve worked up to jogging as long as you did. Hopefully, it would clear after a shower and breakfast, if it didn’t you’d take something to quell the nausea. You really hoped it was related to exercise and you weren’t coming down with something. You had enough to worry about without getting sick.

Blue opened the door and hurried towards the kitchen, calling out a greeting to the skeletons within. You lingered by the door, weakly stretching.

Papyrus called your name, leaning slightly so he could see you from the kitchen, “I MADE YOUR FAVOURITE BREAKFAST!”

You smiled, “Aw! Thanks! I’ll go take a sho-“

Nope.

You darted towards the bathroom, hand covering your mouth and slammed it open. Sans jumped in surprise, but you darted past him and vomited into the toilet. Oh god. It burned. Vomiting up nothing but water and stomach acid was the worst.

You vaguely heard Edge shouting at Blue about pushing you too much on the run because you were more delicate, and Blue shouting back about pacing you.

A hand rather awkwardly, but gently, patted your back. You leaned back, flushing the toilet and glanced up at Sans.

“Sorry,” you muttered weakly.

“uh...you ok?”

“Yeah...now,” you chuckled, once again weakly. “Sorry I burst in here.”

He shrugged, then helped you to your feet, “i was just brushing my teeth.”

You cupped your hand under the water and quickly rinsed the taste of bile from your mouth. You spotted a comb that wasn’t yours and stared at it before slowly looking back at Sans. “With...a comb?”

He shook his head, “nah. thats my second part of my morning routine.”

When he picked it up and dragged it over his skull you snorted and covered your face. “Oh my god. What the hell.”

“this doesn’t just happen,” he said, gesturing at his body before tucking the comb into his pocket. You dropped your hand, shaking your head. What a dork.

“hey...you really ok?”

You nodded, the nausea was almost completely gone. “Yeah...I just got a bit nauseous. Totally fine.”

It didn’t seem to fully convince him, but he shrugged and headed from the bathroom. You followed after him, hearing Edge and Blue’s shouting match getting loudly. Stretch and Red were sleepily standing next to their brothers; ready to intervene if the fight grew too...destructive. Papyrus was standing in the center, his hands up and trying to talk in between the argument.

“Edge,” you said, “It’s my fault, totally not Blue’s. You’re right, humans are weird delicate creatures, I’ve been super stressed lately...and I might be coming down with a bug. I should’ve listened to my body better, but I didn’t. You don’t gotta yell at him. Now, I’m going to go shower and go back to bed...can you guys keep it down? Please?”

Edge didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms and glowered at Blue. You smiled weakly at Papyrus, “Thanks for making me breakfast, but I don’t think I can handle something that filling right now. I’ll eat it for lunch?”

“OKAY!” Papyrus agreed, “BUT TAKE SOMETHING TO SETTLE YOUR STOMACH! FRISK ALWAYS ATE CRACKERS WHEN THEY WERE VOMITTING.”

“I will, thanks,” you smiled before turning and heading towards the bathroom. You _really_ hoped this went away soon. Why couldn't your life just be simply sailing?


	8. Chapter 8

You didn’t really know what you had expected when Sans had caught you after dinner and asked you to go someplace with him, claiming that the last time you really left the house was either to work, jog, or go apartment hunting. Nothing ‘fun’ or ‘lazy’. At first, you had wanted to decline and just curl up in your room with a book Stretch had lent you, cuddling Egg...but there was something about Sans’ entire demeanor that made you rethink that.

It was a surprise when he led you out of the house to his small scooter instead of just short-cutting you wherever the two of you were going. However, you soon figured out why.

The ride led the two of you out of the city, and lasted until the sun was set and the sky was slowly darkening from oranges to purples. Only then did Sans pull off of the small side road and parked. You climbed off and stretched lightly, staring up at the sparkling stars high above. It was always amazing to look up at the sky in the country...and in the future you wanted to live somewhere where you could just...see this every day. The city was convenient...but this was beautiful.

Sans appeared at your side with some blankets tucked under on arm, a picnic basket in one hand, and something tucked under his other arm. It was long, and covered in a dark protective cloth.

“Stargazing?” you guessed, the telescope that was set up on the upstairs balcony had been missing when you got home earlier. That was probably the long object. You held your hands out towards him, silently offering to carry something as he replied. He shifted the blankets into your grasp.

“yup. was going out tonight to do this anyways, thought i’d invite ya,” he said, shrugging with a large grin. You smiled back at him, and then gestured with your whole body.

“Lead the way!” you cheered.

His grin seemed to get wider and he led you along a path that was just bright enough still to walk on without needing a flashlight. It was as if he timed it perfectly, so that when the two of you crested the tops of the forest below, it was dark.

You fluffed out a blanket to lay on as he got to work setting up the telescope. You were giddy as you plopped down on the blanket and stared up at the sparkling sky. This...was going to be a great night. You could tell.

Sans sat down beside you and leaned back on his hands. Head tilted up to just watch the stars. Neither of you spoke as you watched the stars glitter above. You could sit and just stare up at the vastness of space for ever, searching for those few key constellations that you knew off the top of your head. Eventually, your gaze shifted to your companion.

It...was strange. He was probably the one skeleton you knew the least, but you had never felt uncomfortable around him. Ever. He just knew how to read a room and get people to relax around him. Frisk had always talked Sans up before you had even met the shorter skeleton as well...so that could be it. Frisk had told you that down in the Underground, he was one of the few monsters who _never_ acted aggressively towards you once they found out Frisk was a human.

There was something in the back of your head that had always whispered that Frisk was lying...that you didn’t have the whole picture. It wasn’t until a few months before the two of you broke up that Frisk had _finally_ told you _everything._

Maybe you should feel threatened by the skeleton sitting beside you who Frisk had nightmares about still sometimes...but you really couldn’t.

“what’s up? you seem _outer_ it,” he punned, looking down at you with a wink. You snorted.

“That was...bad, Sans,” you said with a light huff of laugh, “I’m just thinking about stuff. Sorry.”

“nah. no need to apologize, you were just staring at the wrong thing,” he teased, gesturing up at the sky. You flushed lightly.

“Sorry,” you returned your gaze up to the sky. He made a noise that sort of sounded like ‘forguddabouit’, and the two of you fell into silence once more. Eventually, he shifted towards the telescope and started to search for a planet, and you sat up to rummage through the picnic basket. Sweet! Salty chips. You’d been craving the shit out of salty food lately. Maybe because you were exercising more often? You heard that you could get cravings for salt when you exercised due to excess sweating.

You munched happily as you and Sans started chatting about life, things happening at the house, and of course...there was no shortage of space related puns. Most of them were the bottom-barrel type puns that you huffed out laughs and grinned at, but there were a few good ones littered amongst them all that had you laughing more heartily.

“Hey, Sans. How does an astronaut say sorry on the moon?” you asked, grinning slyly in hope that he hadn’t heard the joke before.

“How?” he asked, the edges of his grin growing wider.

“He..._Apollo-_gises.”

He snickered before he leaned away from the telescope and gestured towards it. You scooted closer and after gently touching the eyepiece to make sure there was no prank waiting for you, you peered at what he had found.

It was bright but still fairly tiny through the telescope, but you...weren’t all that well versed in planets or stars to be able to guess what you were looking at, so you asked.

“i think it’s uranus,” he said, eye sockets crinkling slightly in thought. You would’ve thought it was a crude joke, but he seemed to be truly contemplating the sky.

“Thought you would’ve memorized all the planets and what they looked like by now,” you said, with a light teasing tone as you peered through it again. You felt more than saw him shrug his shoulders.

“this old thing isn’t exactly cutting edge technology. i had to replace parts of it after i got it out of the dump back in waterfall, so i have no idea if it’s even working properly,” Sans admitted, shrugging again.

You leaned back and glanced over at him. That...was probably the first time he’d really volunteered information about himself. If you ever wanted to know more about him, it was usually through questions or talking to Papyrus. He wasn’t even looking at you, just staring up at the sky with a content look on his face.

“Why don’t you buy a new one?” you asked, rubbing your arms lightly as a gust of wind chilled you. Sans’ eye lights flicked over to you before he flopped onto his back and lazily reached over for one of the extra blankets. After some flailing he managed to inch his phalanges close enough to catch the blanket and yank it towards himself. He then sat up and unfolded the blanket before draping it over your shoulders. You smiled warmly at him. “Thanks.”

“no problem...uh...as for your question? i dunno. just...there always seems to be more important things to buy. a house. vehicles. food. furniture that gets broken,” he shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweater. “plus, paps has been hinting at what he wants for gyftmas this year which is more important to me than a telescope that i use maybe once a month if the weather permits.”

You frowned slightly. That was...sad. When was the last time Sans spent money on himself because he wanted something? You knew he was attached to his jacket, but was that out of nostalgia and comfort or the simple fact that he didn’t think he was worth spending the money on? Of course, you knew it wasn’t because they were poor and he was budgeting their money...but...looking at him you really wondered if he just...didn’t value himself.

A sharp icy feeling lodged itself in your chest at the thought and you rubbed lightly at your sternum to try to ease the feeling.

Sans sighed softly, glancing over at you again and giving you a slightly bigger smile. “’nuff about that though. how’s apartment hunting going?”

Your mood plummeted even further and you pulled the blanket tighter around you. “Shitty.”

You saw him wince sympathetically and gave you an almost apologetic look, “...yeah?”

“Yeah...and the closer it gets to the end of the year, the more expensive everything seems to be! Plus, all the cat-friendly apartments seem to be on the market for all of two seconds before they’re taken,” you grumbled, pulling your knees in closer to your chest and glaring up at the sky. Then you sighed, “At this rate, I’ll never find an apartment I can afford. I might _have_ to get a second job.”

“you could just...move in permanently with us,” Sans suggested, reaching past you and snatching up the bag of chips by your side.

“No, I couldn’t. I’d be imposing,” you instantly shot down the idea, and started reaching for the chips. Sans pulled the bag out of your reach as he shoved a handful into his mouth. You grumbled at that, and reached a bit more before giving up with a huff.

“nah, imposing means we don’t want ya or you’re forcing yourself on us. you really aren’t,” Sans said, mouth already empty of the chips he just stuffed in. The wonders of magic. No need the chew or digest food when it was all just broken down by magic. “you’d pay rent, but it’d be super cheap. six roommates makes for a pretty cheap living situation.”

That gave you pause. If you were _paying_ to stay there, that was different. You’d just be another roommate to them rather than a stupid freeloader which you, unfortunately, currently were.

“we got the _space_,” he punned with a wink, and you huffed out a laugh. “and your already living with us. wont change too much, yknow?”

You nodded slowly at the offer. “I’ll...think about it. I just...” you hesitated trying to put your words in a way that you’d hoped he’d get it. It was hard though, monsters were, typically, very kind and compassionate. You didn’t want to take advantage of their hospitality and compassion, but you didn’t want to tell them that you felt like you were when in fact you weren’t? Ugh. You couldn’t find the right words in your head to tell him. Instead, you just looked at him and hoped that your expression would get through to him and he’d understand what you were trying to say.

Sans’ eye lights searched your face briefly before shrugging his shoulders and leaning back towards the telescope. As he began to search the sky for something else to view, he said, “independence is a big thing for humans, gotta prove you can make it on your own. frisk went through that same thing when they were finished high school. i, personally, don’t get it...because just cus you can survive on your own doesn’t mean you gotta. if frisk had that mentally when they were in the underground...things woulda been much different,” Sans voice got quieter near the end.

You examined the back of his skull, and you sighed softly. “A lot of things would’ve been different if Frisk didn’t do what they did,” you reached behind him and snatched the chips. As you glanced back up at the sky, your eyes widened slightly, “A shooting star!”

It was gone in an instant, so by the time Sans glanced up he had missed it. “aw, _shoot,_ i missed it,” he said, looking over at you and winking. You giggled at that and adjusted the blanket around your shoulders. Sans leaned back, hands supporting him as he abandoned the telescope in favour of looking for more meteors zipping across the dark sky. You followed his lead and accidentally placed your hand on top of his.

“Oh, sorr-“ you started, but he shifted his hand before you could finish and placed it on top of yours before giving it a gentle squeeze.

“s’fine,” he said, his face dusted with blue magic. You felt your own face heat up at the sight...but you didn’t move your hand from his. In fact, you found yourself leaning gently against him as you returned your gaze back up towards the sky. Face still burning as you noted that his was still flushed.

You’d never seen Sans blush before...he was always unfazed by everything it seemed.

The night seemed to last forever as the two of you chatted quietly. Eventually, Sans brought out a thermos full of hot chocolate that apparently Grillby had prepared. You wondered since when Grillby made hot chocolate, and Sans told you that Grillby doesn’t just make stuff for anyone. You gotta be great friends with him to get off-menu items.

“Like a ketchup bottle?” you teased as you sipped the warm chocolaty drink and hummed happily. Fall had hit and you knew you wouldn’t be able to stay out too much longer before you started to feel the cold even through the blanket and your jacket.

Unfortunately, that happened sooner rather than later, as you began to stifle yawns with your hand, and felt your eyelids beginning to grow heavy. You admitted that you were too tired to stay up too much longer, and the two of you packed up.

The small hike back to his scooter was harder in the darkness with only the light of your phone it guide the way but the two of you made it. Tucking all the items back within the safety of the seat storage. He climbed on and you settled in behind him.

“Maybe we should go to the planetarium one of these days,” you offered through a yawn, “I haven’t been in the longest time. Have you ever been?”

“no...but...i’d like to,” he said, voice quiet, “uh...i’d really like that.”

“Good. It’s a date.”

He seemed to sputter out a response that you barely heard as he started up the scooter. You just smiled against his back. The skeletons were such dorks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I’m doing a self-tober thing that you can find here ---> https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/post/187933725914/creepygnomeking-here-is-the-official-self-tober
> 
> With various undertale characters, but I’ll be posting it just to my tumblr unless you guys want it to be uploaded onto ao3 as well (for those of you who don’t like/want to use tumblr). Lemme know if you wanna read it here as well~!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....just a warning. This chapter is fairly emotional and there is plenty of swearing. There is also some uh, less than stellar advice from the step-mother of our dear Reader. So...that's that.

Lunch with your parents. Not exactly your idea of fun...but it was more or less a necessary evil. Of course, through it all you felt nauseous, but you kept that fact to yourself. You couldn’t cancel or they’d get on your case about it. Plus, you didn’t want to worry any of the skeletons. They had already been freaked out when you had gotten randomly sick after jogging with Blue a few weeks ago.

Apparently, your step-sister had told her mother what had happened with her and Chad, and now you were sitting out in public listen to your step-mother and father go back and forth about the entire situation. Not exactly how you wanted to spend the time with them.

“She’s just...very free with her emotions,” your step-mother defended, “It’s not her fault that Chad wanted her. Honestly, dear, you should keep your man on a leash.”

You tensed hearing her titter at her ‘joke’. That was the stupidest fucking thing, you shouldn’t have to ‘keep him on a leash’. You shouldn’t have to worry about your significant other cheating on you at all. But, you knew that your father would be furious if _you_ talked back to his wife, so you just laughed awkwardly and sipped at your water, praying that the waiter came back so that you could ask for a cheque and leave without your step-mother getting defensive.

“Have you found a place to stay yet?” your father asked, his voice oddly flat for the question.

“Cat-friendly apartments are really had to find, but the Serif brothers are letting me stay at their house until I can find a place,” you explained giving a small shake of your head. Although the subject was still not a ‘happy’ one, you were still grateful for any sort of change in conversation. Even if it was still about you. You’d much rather they talk about themselves, because then you didn’t feel like you were being judged by either of them.

Sometimes you wondered why you ever attempted to reconnect with your father after your mother passed away. Well, it wasn’t so much why you did reconnect, but why you still tried to keep the father-daughter relationship alive. You’d stopped talking to him once you turned eighteen, but he’d shown up to the funeral and you had forgotten about why your mother left him and how he didn’t even bother try to talk to you once you stopped communicating. It was as if the years fell away and you were his little girl again who was done being so strong, and he was once again your supportive father once again who helped you.

“Why don’t you just forgive Chad and move back in with him?” your step-mother asked, “It was a mistake, and Anna said she’s not interested in being with him anymore.”

You clenched your jaw tight and you took a deep breath. “I’d rather not.”

“Oh, come on! You two were practically engaged!” she tittered out a laugh, “Men make stupid mistakes all the time! I think these two months have been punishment enough for him.”

Practically engaged? Stupid mistake? Oh...you felt your restraint wearing thin. If it wasn’t for the waiter coming back with the cheques at that very moment, you would’ve torn her a new one. This wasn’t the place you wanted to get into an argument with your step-mother, too public and you couldn’t scream at her like you wanted. So, you breathed out a sigh of relief, slapped down some cash and stood up. “I gotta get going, I’ll see you later,” you said before kissing your father’s cheek and giving them both as warm of a smile as you could muster before fleeing from the restaurant.

You slammed the car door shut and you pressed your face into your hands and let out an angry yell. How fucking dare she? Who the fuck would say that to someone who had been cheated on? That it was a mistake, but you should forgive them anyways? Fuck no! There was no way you were ever going to forgive someone who couldn’t even be bothered to give you a proper apology. There was no way you were going to forgive someone who hurt you so badly. Who put you through all this stress...just because you had ‘practically been engaged.’ You didn’t care if you had been married to him with five fucking children. You would’ve kicked his ass and told him that he better get a better job to pay you child support.

The nausea swelled up again and you leaned your forehead against the steering wheel and took deep breaths. Fuck. This was getting annoying.

Maybe you should go to the doctor to find out what was wrong with you? You couldn’t afford to get sick right now.

Not right now.

Why was everything so hard?

Your phone pinged with a new message, but you ignored it as you waited for the feeling of nausea to pass. Once it did, you turned on your air conditioning in hopes that the cool air would help. Then, you picked up your phone and saw you had a message from Chara. You smiled.

**Chara 1:15 PM: ** _Two more weeks of this stupid trip. Ughhhhhhhhhhh. Frisk is a way better Ambassador than meeeeeeee why can’t they just do all this political shit. I’m horrible with humans. They’re so selfish and gross._

**You 1:19 PM: ** _Says the kid who just said that you’d rather Frisk do all the hard work._

**You 1:19 PM: ** _But I agree humans are awful. I have just decided. ESM decided that I should get back together with Chad._

As you waited for her response, you navigated to your calendar to check when Chara was supposed to land and when you assumed you could see them. You weren’t as close to them as you were to Frisk, but the two of you did try to hang out frequently. Which was always strange to your father, you were still friends with your ex and their twin. Though, you knew that Frisk and Chara weren’t actually twins...but you honestly couldn’t remember why or how you knew that? You think Frisk told you something about it. Just like you knew that the skeletons weren’t cousins. Another weird thing that if you thought about too hard you’d get a headache.

**Chara: 1:20 PM: ** _What happened with Chad?_

You paled slightly. Shit. You didn’t tell them? You scrolled back through the messages. You...hadn’t. You hadn’t even mentioned that you were living with the skeletons. Sure, you talked about them more but you hadn’t said ‘Chad cheated on me so I’m living with the skeletons right now.’

**You 1:20 PM: ** _woops. Uh...Chad cheated on me with Anna...totally thought I told you._

**You 1:20 PM: ** _I’m living with the skeles for now, and Egg’s with me so I’m all good._

**Chara 1:20 PM: ** _Hmmm...wonder if my diplomatic immunity would let me get away with kicking his ass off a bridge._

**You 1:20 PM: ** _chara no_

**Chara 1:21 PM: ** _chara yes_

You stifled a giggle and returned to looking at your calendar. Two months since you had broken up with Chad. Two months of living with the skeletons. It was almost surreal that so much time had passed. Hell, Chara had been away for six months at this point travelling to different countries, kingdoms, ect, to help facilitate the monster integration.

What else happened two months ago...?

Then suddenly something in your mind whispered a reminder to you. Your stomach dropped. While whispering ‘don’t panic’ you quickly opened up another app.

Your period app.

Two months without one.

Okay. Calm down. It could be stress. Stress totally makes things stop working, right? Right.

You stared at your phone for longer.

No. Don’t even _think_ about what it could mean.

You couldn’t be.

Panic clenched your chest and you threw your phone at your passenger seat. Maybe...maybe if you just ignored it, nothing would happen. Right?

....

....

...

Fuck. You couldn’t.

If you were, you needed to know.

You drove to the nearest pharmacy and hurried over to the pregnancy tests. You grabbed a handful from different brands and hurried to the self-check out. There was _no_ way you were going through the manned check outs and having to make small talk with the clerk. No. Way. What would you say if they asked? “_Hahaha, yeah, I might be pregnant with my cheating ex-boyfriend’s baby!_“ No. No way. Nope.

Your hands were shaking as you scanned the items and shoved them into the plastic bags. You felt tense and your body was shaking as you paid for them and darted back to your car. Shit. Okay. Get back to the house, and pray that none of the skeletons were home. You really didn’t want to explain to them what was going on. You didn’t even want to acknowledge it verbally in case that somehow willed it into existence.

You practically skidded to a stop in the driveway and just stared at the house. There was no evidence anyone was home, but that didn’t mean anything. You didn’t have a garage door opener, even if Sans kept saying that he has been meaning to give you one. Not that you minded, it might be a bit irritating during the winter to wipe your car from snow, but you’d live.

Right now, you really wished for one so you could see who was home.

Some skeletons, like Edge, were less snoopy and wouldn’t ask you what you bought, but Blue or Papyrus would and if you lied to them Stretch would become snoopy and you didn’t want to deal with that. Hopefully, if you were lucky, no one would be inside. They _should _all be at their jobs, but you honestly didn’t know their routines well enough. Sans seemed to work whenever he wanted at odd jobs.

Fuck.

With a deep breath, you grabbed your abandoned phone, bag, and the dreaded plastic bag, and headed towards the house.

So far, so good. The front door was locked, which usually meant no one was home. Sans, Red, or Stretch sometimes just teleported into the house and didn’t bother unlocking the door, however, so you couldn’t rule out that one of them was home. But, they generally wouldn’t bother you until you were sitting in a main area like the entertainment room or the living room.

You were sneaking into the house like that day two months ago, but this time you weren’t sure if there were any skeletons in the house. Still, you felt a bit foolish as you slowly shut the door behind you and listened.

They were skeletons. The shortest of them weighed like 20 lbs, and the tallest like 30 lbs. They barely made any noise when they moved normally! Why would it change just because you were nervous?

Thankfully, no one came crawling out of the hardwood.

It’d be just your luck if you had to explain what you were going to do to any of them.

Once you confirmed they weren’t going to suddenly spring up from behind the couch, you practically sprinted to the bathroom and slammed the door behind you. With trembling fingers you pulled the boxes from the bag and proceeded to take them all. Better safe than sorry. After washing your hands, you set up the timer and sat on the toilet and waited. Your heart beat heavily in your chest and you felt the tight grip of anxiety squeezing your ribs.

Blue’s voice called out your name as you heard the front door open, followed by a quieter call of ‘hey’ from Sans. You managed to call out ‘hey’ in response, and return to staring anywhere but the tests. This wasn’t happening. You couldn’t accept the fact that you could very well be pregnant. You didn’t want to...and you really didn’t want anyone around when you figured it out.

The timer went off and you jolted in surprise.

You had to look.

But you didn’t want to.

You didn’t know how long you stayed in the bathroom, and you heard the door open and close a few times. The quiet house became filled with voices as everyone debated dinner and chatted about the day. Eventually you heard a gentle knock on the door.

“hey...uh...dunno bout human bathroom habits, but you’ve been in there a while....you okay?” Stretch’s voice drifted in through the door. You swallowed thickly, glancing at the door and then over at the tests.

“Uh...y-yeah,” you managed to choke out, “Totally okay.”

He didn’t respond at first and you heard a soft thump as if he was leaning against the door. Then he sighed, “okay...bros starting dinner. you good enough to eat?”

You picked up your phone from the counter and bite back a gasp at the time. You’d been waiting for a good couple hours. You’d gotten home two hours ago. It seemed honestly like only a few minutes went by...a couple of anxiety induced minutes.

“Uh...should be,” you muttered, and you heard a grunt.

“should be?” Stretch asked, voice sounding a bit strained. Then it quieted, “if ya need to talk, honey...”

“Th-Thanks...but...I’m good,” you lied, knowing full well that he would pick up instantly that you were lying. You just...didn’t want to deal with another person right now.

“alright...dinner is in an hour...lemme know if you need anything.”

You didn’t hear him leave, but you had a feeling he simply teleported. You dropped your face into your hands and let out a shaky breath. You really couldn’t linger in the bathroom any longer. They’d get super worried if they weren’t already. You had just lied to Stretch and you’d been in the bathroom for two hours.

You prayed to every god you knew off the top of your head before standing up and looking down at your five tests.

Positive.

No.

No.

No. No.

No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!No!

You immediately doubled over, hand on your mouth as you stifled a sob.

No! You couldn’t be!

This was....no!

You couldn’t be this fucking unlucky!

Your body was shaking and you couldn’t see through the thick, hot tears that burned down your face. You couldn’t be pregnant. You couldn’t be. This was...impossible! It had to be. These tests were all false positives. You couldn’t be pregnant!

Your hands pressed against your mouth as you tried to keep your sobs quiet. Keep this to yourself. This was your problem.

Oh god. You were pregnant.

You didn’t have a home.

You didn’t have a significant other.

You were alone.

All alone.

Pregnant.

Oh god. No.

Fuck no.

This couldn’t happen.

You couldn’t find a one-bedroom apartment that was cat-friendly in your fucking price range, how were you going to find a two-bedroom? You’d need to get a second job.

Even if you had considered moving in permanently with the brothers before...you couldn’t now. You couldn’t be like ‘cool I’ll live here, by the way I’m going to have a baby too.’

You couldn’t do that to them.

You barely felt okay accepting when it was just you and Egg.

No. No. No.

How were you going to survive?

Shit.

You couldn’t hold yourself upright anymore and you dropped to the floor with a heavy thud. Your sobs were becoming too loud to cover up with your hands and you curled around yourself. What were you going to do. You were alone. Your father wouldn’t help you. You refused to go to Chad for help. You wanted your mother. She had always known what to do. She would've come to your side the moment you called her. She would've soothed away your fears and helped you through this. If she was still alive. But she wasn't and you were all fucking alone. 

You wanted your mother.

How were you supposed to be a mother when your own mother couldn't help you through it? 

Why did life love kicking you while you were down?

Why did everything wrong happen to you!

Why couldn't things go right for once in your goddamn life!

You wanted your mother.

You wanted your mommy.

“WHAT’S WRONG? ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU INJURED? ARE YOU NAKED? CAN WE COME IN?” Blue’s panicked voice cut through the door, but it just made you cry even harder.

You couldn’t answer as much as you tried. Your voice just was drowned out by your sobs.

The skeletons’ voices rose in argument before you felt something bump against your foot. You couldn’t even see through your tears when you glanced up, but you saw a flash of red before hands started patting you.

“fuck...where are ya hurt?” Red demanded, hands touching your arms and legs before patting your head. Trying to find someplace where you flinched. You shook your head and tried to explain but it came out a garbled mess as you gestured towards the counter. He glanced over and saw the tests. You tried to wipe at your eyes but the tears just wouldn’t stop pooling.

It was starting to hurt to breathe.

“ya gotta tell me what’s wrong!” Red snapped, voice rising with his confusion. You flinched at the tone, but then he pulled you into a hug. “c’mon, sweetheart, i don’t fucking know.”

You clung to him, pressing your face into his jacket and sobbed even harder.

You felt the tension in his body racket up, but he didn’t let you go. Just stroked your hair until you calmed down slightly. Ever so slightly. Then he pulled back and unlocked the bathroom door.

Instantly four other skeletons were scrambling into the bathroom to see what had happened, their voices and presence instantly overwhelmed you and you felt your hysteric sobs double once again.

“**hey**,” Sans’ voice cut through the din. “**give her space.**”

There was a tense moment where no one moved, and no one spoke.

You continued to sob into your hands.

The others were practically thrown from the bathroom, and Sans stepped into the doorway. “go get toriel and frisk. **n o w.**”

The door shut, leaving you alone in the bathroom with Sans.

He turned around and sat down beside you, pulling you into a side hug. You awkwardly twisted, trying to get closer, and pressed your face into his chest, allowing yourself to continue sobbing. He didn’t ask what happened. He didn’t demand to know. He just allowed you to sob and cling to him.

“let’s...get you somewhere more comfortable,” Sans suggested after a while. An ache in your tailbone pulsed at his suggestion, how long had you been sitting on the floor? You nodded weakly against him and he gently helped you to your feet. The change in elevation caused your head to swim and then he was shifting you backwards. Through your heavy, tear filled eyes, you realized he had already teleported you to your bedroom. The edge of the bed bumped into the back of your calves, and you wasted no time sitting down and wiping roughly at your face.

“Thanks,” you managed to huff out, your voice scratchy from sobbing, and you felt exhausted. Sans gave your shoulder a gentle nudge and when you didn’t move, he nudged it again but this a bit more firmly. The force caused you to slump onto your back and then Sans was hoisting your feet off the floor and half-tossing, half placing them onto the bed.

“just so i can tell the others, you’re not injured, right?” Sans finally asked you, eye lights drifting quickly over your body. You shook your head. A sigh left him, and he slumped slightly, “good...good...uh-let’s...uh get you tucked in.”

He grabbed your extra throw blanket from the bottom of the bed and fluffed it out over top of you. Then he was shifting your pillows around until you were thoroughly snuggled. “tori and frisk will be here soon...we-uh...we don’t know much about humans? so...i can call stretch n’get him back if you don’t want tori or frisk here.”

You hesitated...you didn’t want anyone to see you right now. Especially Frisk.

However...you couldn’t stand the thought of being alone either, so you just shrugged weakly.

“okay...” Sans hummed, glancing towards the door and then back at you. “you need anything, just let us know.i’ll get the others to give you space.“

Sans turned to leave, and before you could really process what you were doing, your hand reached weakily towards him and caught his sleeve before he could turn away.

“Don’t leave me,” you whimpered, fresh tears starting to conceal your vision again. You saw his eye lights glance towards the door and then back at you before he gave you the gentlest smile you had probably ever seen San give anyone that wasn’t his brother.

“alright, scoot over,” he said flicking his fingers towards you. You huffed but relented, shifting over and patting your bed. He laid down and nestled himself into the pillows. “i’m here for ya, kiddo.”

Kiddo.

The word brought fresh tears to your eyes. You hadn’t been a kid for a long time, and now you were going to have your own. The thoughts swirled in your head as your body curled into a ball and buried itself in the small nest Sans had built, your hand still curled around his sleeve. All you wanted to do was...not think. Not acknowledge the fear inside of you...or the child.

So...you fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only like 2 more chapters of angst before it becomes the fluffy wonderland that I promised (with occasional like sad moments but not angst angst, yknow?)
> 
> Also! I'm still doing the Self-Tober writing over on my tumblr! Here's a link to the [masterlist](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/post/188130110179/self-tober-2k19-masterlist) so you can pick and choose which ones you actually want. Also, lemme know in the comments down below if you want to see them uploaded onto AO3 as well!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up at 4:30 this morning, and I normally wake up at 9 so........I'm tired....but that just means you get the chapter a bit earlier than normal.

You barely got a wink of sleep before you heard a commotion in the living room. Your eyes were thick and heavy with sleep and tears, and your throat was burning from sobbing. Sans was scrolling through his phone on your bed beside you, thumb poised over his screen as he stared at the door. You shifted slightly to allow you to look at the door as well, before peering up at him. He turned his attention down towards you and giving you a slightly bigger smile than his norm.

“tori and frisk are here,” he said softly, patting your knee gently.

A noise that could’ve been taken as a confirmation grunted out of you as you curled up tighten under the blankets. As if you could just curl up into a tiny ball and disappear completely. Sans still hadn’t asked what was really wrong, just confirmed that you weren’t injured. Now that your head had cleared a bit from the panic, you remembered Red's panic as he patted you down. How tiny his eye lights had been and the sweat dripping down his skull. The others were just as panicked but there was a haze in your memory from when they all entered, it had been too overwhelming for your panicking mind to retain.

Still, there was one thing you did know...you had worried your boys unnecessarily. 

<strike>_Your_ boys?</strike>

You ignored _that_ thought immediately, as guilt settled in your stomach. If you had just...mentioned it to one of them this whole thing probably would've been handled better. Less shouting. Less panicking. With a sigh, you squeezed Sans' hand before reluctantly releasing it. When had you shifted your grip from his sleeve to his hand? Sans' hand twitched towards yours before shoving into his pocket just as the door to your bedroom opened and Toriel entered quickly. You guiltily realized that you hadn't seen her in a while, there wasn't as much of a reason after you stopped dating her child. Guilt kept piling on your shoulders and you swore it became a physical weight on your back as you slumped slightly, eyes dropping to the ground. A pathetic sniffle escaped you as fresh tears started pooling in your eyes. She took in your face and hurried over to the bed, sitting down on the opposite side that Sans was perched on. One of her large fluffy hands picked up the hand that held Sans’ a few moments ago and the other reached up and brushed back some stray hairs that had stuck to your tear-stained face.

“Oh, my child, what happened?” she asked, voice impossibly soft and motherly. _My child_. Fuck. That hit you in a spot that you hadn't felt since your mother had been alive. You couldn’t help but choke out another sob at that and curl up tighter. Why couldn’t your mother be here for you? Why did you feel so alone even surrounded by so many people who cared about you? Your body shook with another sob, and Toriel made a soft noise. A soothing noise. Her large hands gently shifted you from your curled ball and into a firm embrace. It was all it took to make you uncurl and you clung to her dress and buried your face into her shoulder. A loud cry left you and you didn't care that you felt like a child, or that you probably sounded like one. You were lost right now.

She gently stroked your hair, then your back, and then back to your hair, as you cried into her shoulder. Soft, supportive words soothed your anguish.

Eventually, either because you had no more tears to shed or her motions and words had soothed them, you stopped crying.

You slowly leaned away from her, and wiped at your cheeks, snuffling pathetically.

“Sorry,” you apologized immediately, eyes focusing on your hands resting in your lap.

“There is nothing to apologize for, it seemed as if you needed that,” she said with a soft smile, voice still gentle and motherly. “I do not sense any injury...so what is the matter?”

The thought of voicing it made your stomach flip uncomfortably and made your throat tighten. Your eyes glanced over at Sans and finally noticed that Frisk was in the room as well...and the other skeletons had piled in by the door. The two that really drew your attention were the Fell brothers. They were on edge and looked ready for a fight. Red was sweating and kept glancing around the room, hands loose at his sides (a thing you rarely saw they were always stuffed in his jacket). Edge was standing slightly turned towards the door, and the tensest you had _ever _seen him, eye lights flickering between you and the door to the room. Your mind clung to that. Would he attack if someone spooked him? You really hoped that Egg didn’t choose that moment to dart into your room.

Where was Egg anyways?

Frisk sat down on your bed and placed a hand on your shin, muttering your name. “What happened?”

You glanced at them and then down back your hands once again. Frisk’s hand tightened ever so slightly. “Was it Chad?”

You grimaced instantly and Frisk’s hand left your leg.

“Red,” Frisk’s voice was...dark, and your head whipped up. For a moment, just a small moment, you swore Frisk’s iris’ flashed red. Sans grabbed their arm immediately, and you didn’t miss how his eye lights blinked out completely. There were no words exchanged between the two, but then Frisk yanked their arm away from Sans and crossed their arm. You missed Stretch grabbing onto Red’s shoulder, and Red yanking it away sharply. You also missed how tense the air was between the two of them.

“H-He didn’t hurt me!” you said immediately, hands grabbing onto Sans’ hoodie. “I...it’s just...” you couldn’t voice it. You just...couldn’t. You tried, but every time your mouth opened the words got caught. As if they refused to leave you, no matter how much you felt like you should. Sans patted your thigh. “I...the bathroom,” you gestured weakly.

Frisk’s head tilted confusion replacing their anger, and they made eye contact with Toriel before turning and leaving the room. You waited, staring down at the bedding before you heard a muffled, "You're pregnant?!" and then Frisk stormed back into the room holding one of the tests. “That son of a- Red. He works at-”

“Frisk!” you scolded immediately, your anger at yourself overriding your overwhelming guilt and despair about the future. The anger flared in response to Frisk’s anger, and it consumed you immediately, “No kicking anyone’s ass! No telling Red or any of the other skeletons where he works either. I don’t need to have to deal with Chad being all pissy about getting his ass kicked, alright? I already have to worry about bills, Egg, and rent! Now I have to worry about a child too! And!!!! I don’t even know if I should keep it or not because I don’t know if I’m even able to be a good mother or not! I don’t know the first fucking thing about parenthood! So! I don’t need you getting all huffy about it because I’m already fucking furious and I hate myself and I really don’t need this right now!”

You were crying again, and Sans’ arm immediately wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you into a side hug. One of Toriel’s hands gently picked yours up, giving them a gentle squeeze. Frisk looked stunned as they dropped their gaze to the ground, and fell quiet. The anger suddenly zapped out of you and you sagged against Sans, wiping your cheek with your shoulder.

“Red, Sans, And I Have All Raised Babybones Before. It Can Be Hard At Times, But We All Did It! You Can Do It,” Blue said, voice gentle and warm. You saw Sans nodding in your peripheral, and he gave your shoulders a gentle squeeze.

“wait a fucking moment,” Red blurted out, stepping forward, “how’re ya pregnant?”

Your attention shifted to the skeletons and realized they all looked vaguely confused. Why...were they confused? Did they not get how babies were made? You were fairly certain they would? Especially the older brothers??

Oh.

They probably didn’t know how _human_ children were made?

“Uh...w-when a woman and a man have sex...uh...baby?” you gestured vaguely to your stomach, dropping your gaze to the bed.

“heh...we get that part,” Sans said a bit awkwardly, and your eyes flicked up to meet his. The eye lights were back. “just...don’t you need to want to have a baby...yknow? to have one?”

Your eyebrows flew up, “No?”

“Monsters are all about intent,” Toriel spoke up softly, “but humans are made of stuff. Intent doesn’t mean much to biology.”

You nodded slowly. “Biology fucking sucks.”

She gave you a look but didn’t reprimand your language use for once. Instead, she gave you a gentle smile, “If you choose to raise the child, I will be here to help you with them. I may not know too much about human _babies_ but I have raised two human children in my life.”

Fuck. You were probably dehydrated at this point, but still, tears swam in your vision. You sniffled and shifted away from Sans to hug Toriel unprompted. She stroked your back.

“I don’t even know if I can afford to raise a baby,” you hiccupped, “I don’t know what to do...”

Frisk spoke up almost immediately, “I’ll raise the baby with you. MK won’t mind...he’d probably be stoked to have a little baby around...”

You pulled back from Toriel and looked over at them in surprise. Guilt shot through you and you immediately shook your head, “no...I couldn’t ask that of you.”

Frisk snorted, “You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

“Frisk-“

“No. I messed up by introducing you to Chad. I owe you.”

Anger flared again, and Sans took your hand, but you barely noticed that. You were unable to stop yourself from snapping, “Owe me? What the actual flying fuck, Frisk?”

Frisk’s face crumpled slightly as they attempted to find the right words, “I’m just saying that you need-“

“I don’t need you to pity me,” your voice rose, and you felt like you were suffocating again, “I need you to stop fucking treating me as if you know better than I do! You don’t owe me shit! You told me Chad’s name, that’s it!”

Toriel stood up then, “We need to all to step away from this conversation before someone says something they regret. Perhaps relocating to the living room will help clear the air a bit?”

Frisk did something you had _never _seen them do before. They ignored Toriel. “It doesn’t matter! I still introduced you to him. Now you’re pregnant, you were almost homeless if it wasn’t for the skeletons, and-“

“Listen to Toriel,” you interrupted sharply, “Because I really don’t have the patience right now for this argument.”

“Then don’t argue!” Frisk said as if it was the simplest thing, “I can help you raise the child and-“

You huffed angrily, “Listen to yourself, Frisk! This isn’t the Underground, you can’t just fix everyone’s problem with your DETERMINATION! This is **my** problem, NOT yours.”

You were incredibly unaware of three skeleton’s tensing at the shift in your fight. However, you did notice the way Frisk’s eyes widening slightly....in excitement. Their hands shifted in front of them and they stared down at something that you couldn’t see. “I can fix this! I can R-“

“Don’t you fucking dare!” you snarled realization slamming into you as Sans got to his feet, “Don’t you fucking **dare** RESET because of this! Sometimes you gotta live with your fucking mistakes. Besides, you promised Sans that you’d never do that again!”

“RESET?” Papyrus questioned, “RESET WHAT?”

“**f r i s k.”**

You barely got a wink of sleep before you heard a commotion in the living room. Your eyes were thick and heavy with sleep and tears, and your throat was burning from sobbing. Sans was sitting on your bed beside you, thumb poised over his screen. There was something...weirdly familiar about this situation. But...different. Neither of you glanced at the door. His eye lights were gone, and you slowly sat up and rubbed at your tears.

Instead of frustrated misery, you just felt the lingering remnants of anger fading away like a forgotten memory.

Sans stood up, squeezing your hand. “i’ll grab tori for ya...and...you’re not alone. if you want to keep the baby? we’ll lend you a hand.” Another squeeze of your hand before he let go and teleported from the room.

How...did he know?

Oh...right the tests on the counter.

You scrubbed at your face with both hands. If you want to keep the baby...did you? You...didn’t know what kind of mother you would be. There was a part of you that considered having a child, but that was always down the road. When you were older, married, and stable. It was always that distant thing that you never truly considered or thought about except randomly when you saw a cute toddler video or when your father asked you when you were going to give him grandchildren. Always randomly brought up, but never lingered on.

There was a part of you that recoiled from the idea...you were content with Egg. A child was something completely different...and you’d be a single mother. When you got to a point where you wanted to date again, a child seriously reduced the dating pool for you...unfortunately. Any wistful ideas of going on a date with Blue went out the window. Besides, you already had a hard enough time opening up to people emotionally, throw a child in and you could already imagine yourself tossing up more walls to protect not only yourself but an infant.

All those thoughts swirled in your head, growing more and more daunting until you forced yourself to think about this logically.

In the end, you had three options before you.

You could end it. You’d be without that extra stress. Chad would never know. Your father and step-mother would never know.

You could put the baby up for adoption. But then you’d worry that the child wasn’t getting the proper emotional and physical care and love they required...you heard horror stories of the foster care system.

Or...you could raise the child yourself. Blue, Red, and Sans all raised their own brothers, and they had been much younger than you when they did it. Your own mother raised you by herself since you were young. This part was starting to grow on you in the back of your mind...especially as you thought of your own mother. So strong but so human at the same time.

Your mind began to wander toward memories of your mother when you were younger.

You heard something a kin to a fight before there was a soft knock on your door. Toriel peeked her head in and gave you a gentle smile. She stepped inside and came to sit next to you. “Sans told us what happened...are you alright?”

All you could do was shrug weakly, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Your best, that’s all that anyone can ask of you,” Toriel responded easily, before pulling you into a hug. You hugged her back as tightly as you could, and she patted your back. “Being a mother is tough work...but you’re not alone. I will help you where I can, and I’m sure the skeletons will be there for you as they always are! Half of them raised the other half, if you have forgotten. I...have heard that humans have alternative options to having the child. I personally cannot fathom why, but I understand that they are there...and I will not judge you for choosing to not keep the child.”

You shook your head lightly and pulled away, wiping at the weak tears that had slipped from your eyes. “I don’t know...I just...I don’t know...”

“That’s alright,” Toriel insisted, “I’m here for you.”

The door opened and Blue walked in with Red. For a moment you were confused as to why they came in together, that was a rare sight to behold. Toriel turned slightly to look at the skeletons before returning her gaze on your with a warm, motherly smile. “There is nothing that _I_ can heal...but! If I may borrow your kitchen, I will make you something delicious. That is the closest I can do to help soothe you right now,” she said, almost apologetically.

You wiped at your eyes more and nodded, “Thanks, Tori...c-can I help?”

The smile widened, “Of course, my child. I will go and get started, but I think these two wish to speak with you first.”

Another nod and Toriel left the room. Red strode over and sat heavily on your bed, staring at the floor as Blue walked up to the end of the bed. You knew that if Blue wasn’t there he’d be really telling you what was on his mind…which meant that he thought his thoughts were too private for another person to hear. So, they were soft and private words. Without hesitation, you taped his back with your knee and you felt him stiffen for a quick moment and then relax.

Blue was about to speak but then Stretch and Papyrus wandered in.

“edge wants to talk to you,” Stretch said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Red huffed, grumbled something under his breath about too many damn skeletons, and then disappeared. You couldn’t bring yourself to agree with him...even if you wanted to speak with Red. Stretch strode over to stand just behind his brother, “so...hey, we talked while you were in here with uh...Queen Toriel...and-“

“YOU CAN MOVE IN HERE PERMANENTLY!” Blue declared placing his hands on his hips and grinning at you.

When you opened your mouth to speak, Papyrus quickly crossed the room. “WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE IMPOSING BUT YOU’RE NOT! I TOLD YOU BEFORE THAT WE WOULD TELL YOU IF WE FELT THAT WAY. YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, IMPOSE ON US! BESIDES, NOT ONLY DO I LOVE THIS SMALL WHITE DOG WHO DOESN’T CHEW ON MY BONES BUT! WE WILL HAVE A BABYBONES IN THE HOUSE! THAT WAY YOU DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH MONEY OR FINDING A NEW PLACE TO LIVE, AS STRESS IS NOT GOOD FOR THE BABY.”

“Paps...” you sighed, “I know you don’t think I’m imposing but...”

“but nothin’,” Stretch shook his head, “listen. sans told us a while back about his offer to you to live here and you said you’d think about it. ignore that little voice in your head telling you that you’re gunna just be in the way or whatever, and look at it as if sans is a landlord looking for an extra tenant. you get a room and a bathroom to yourself,” he held up one finger, “we’ll get you a garage door opener so you can park in the garage,” another finger popped up, “we don’t care that you have a cat,” another finger, “we’re more than okay with having a baby bones in the house,” a fourth finger, “and you won’t find a cheaper apartment with all of that included.”

“I’ll think about moving in...but about the uh...b-baby... I don’t know if I will keep it-them?” you mumbled, wrapping your arms around your stomach and shrinking back into the pillow nest behind you. Stretch and Blue shared a look while Papyrus frowned. Then he sat down on the bed and patted your knee. “I just...feel alone and I don’t know why, even with you guys it’s just...I can’t help but feel like I’m all alone.”

“You’re Not Alone, You’ve Got All Six Of Us. Along With Toriel, And Frisk, And Chara When They Get Back.” Papyrus insisted, “Whatever You Want. We’re Here.”

Blue nodded sagely, “You Matter To Us. We’re Here To Listen...And We Won’t Judge.”

Your eyes flicked over to Stretch. Frisk had said something about him being a Judge in the Underground and you were suddenly worried about him actually ‘Judging’ you. However, he just wriggled his five fingers at you with a gentle smile. “yeah, this house is a _judge_ment free zone.”

Blue gave him a withering look to the pun that you only half got.

“WE HAVE OPINIONS ON CERTAIN PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT SO NICE, BUT WE WOULDN’T JUDGE A FRIEND IN DISTRESS,” Papyrus clarified, looking at the other two with an almost withered look himself. “IF YOU DECIDE TO KEEP THE BABYBONES, THEN GREAT! BUT IF NOT. THAT’S ENTIRELY YOUR CHOICE! ALSO! IF YOU DO DECIDE TO KEEP THE BABY, THEN I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO OFFER FREE BABYSITTING SERVICES!”

“OH! ME TOO!” Blue said, sitting down on the foot of your bed and grinning at you, “AND MY OFFER FOR A DATE STILL STANDS.”

You couldn’t help but blush when he winked at you, and then tears started prickling at the corner of your eyes and Blue’s face fell slightly. He said your name worriedly, and you opened up your arms unable to stop the tiny hiccup of a sob that came out of your mouth. Blue smiled softly and shifted across the bed to envelop you into a hug. Stretch lazily flopped onto the pillows beside you, leaning his shoulder against yours. Another set of arms wrapped around you and Papyrus’ skull rested against the top of your head.

You were utterly surrounded by supportive skeletons.

You’d always been metaphorically surrounded by them, they were always so supportive. How did you manage to get friends like these? Even when life had tripped you, kicked you, and spat on you, they still were able to make you feel like everything was going to be okay. They were there for you.

“Thank you,” you hiccupped against Blue’s shoulder, his arms tightened slightly.

“No Thanks Needed,” he murmured against your ear.

“yeah, plus...if you keep the baby, can you imagine all the Dad jokes this house can be filled with?” Stretch said, grinning at you, “I can see it now.”

“NO! YOU WILL NOT CORRUPT THE BABYBONES WITH YOUR HORRIBLE PUNS AND JOKES!” Blue immediately scolded, giving his brother a firm enough push away from you that Stretch nearly fell off the bed.

“I DO NOT THINK I CAN STAND ANY MORE AWFUL JOKES COMING FROM THOSE THREE,” Papyrus lamented, and shook his head...but you saw that he was smiling.

You couldn’t help but snort, “Stretch, you already tell enough bad dad jokes, and you’re not even a dad.”

“no, i don’t,” Stretch denied, leaning back against you, “my jokes are amazing.”

“Yes! You told one earlier today!” you shot back.

“hm? can’t recall. wanna jog my memory?” he asked, slipping an arm over your shoulder, eyes practically twinkling in encouragement. Blue immediately crossed his arms.

“DON’T FALL FOR IT!” he begged, looking over at you with pleading eyes.

“I won’t, besides, I don’t think even Stretch’s mind would jog,” you teased, and Stretch grinned as Blue chortled. Without hesitation, Stretch immediately launched into a string of exercise-related puns that had you giggling in amusement and both Papyrus and Blue getting more and more exasperated. You got so distracted by Stretch’s overuse of puns that you didn’t notice Papyrus' arm sneaking underneath your knees until you were lifted right off the bed and into his arms and Blue was tumbling off where he had been half-perched on your lap from the hug.

You yelped and grabbed onto Papyrus’s sweater.

“TORIEL IS WAITING FOR YOU!” Papyrus reminded you with a large grin, “WE MUSTN’T MAKE HER WAIT. TO THE KITCHEN!”

“Papyrus- Wait! I can walk-“

But he was already zipping out the door and towards the kitchen. You huffed out a laugh.

Stretch was right. This was the best place you’d ever find...and now? You couldn’t ever imagine leaving to live somewhere else. On the worst days, they could brighten your mood so fast. Hell, even when they were fighting amongst each other, they found ways to resolve it quickly and it usually ended with Sans, Red, or Stretch punning until even the most reluctant of skeletons was either laughing or groaning at the jokes.

Maybe...maybe you needed to have a more optimistic outlook? Just for once, you could try to see this as the start of something good instead of the end of something.

As Papyrus placed you down, you smiled up at him fondly and a soft dusting of orange blush covered his cheekbones. Yeah...optimism would win here. After Toriel left, you’d talk to Sans about living here permanently, and setting up an automatic withdrawal for your rent starting at your next paycheck. You’d do some more research into the whole pregnancy thing...but for now? You decided that you wanted to keep the child. Not because anyone else wanted you to...but because you wanted to.

You refused to allow Chad to continue to bring you down.

You refused to allow life to keep kicking your ass.

This was _your_ life and you had a kick-ass support group in your friends who would never let you fall any further than you had already. You knew you’d do the same for them given the chance...because well...you loved this ragtag bunch of skeletons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woop there it is, a LOAD. Just fyi, Reader isn't aware of when a load or reset happens (besides a bit of deja vu), she just knows that Frisk had that capability.
> 
> One more angsty chapter before some fluff, and then a bit more angst, and then even more fluff. Then some fun shit. Then some baby shit. Y'know how it goes.
> 
> [My tumblr for all my own undertale needs.](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	11. Chapter 11

“what did you tell her?” Sans’ voice was gruffer than normal, glaring across the judgement hall at Frisk. A scene so familiar yet so starkly different. For one, Frisk wasn’t wearing an oversized sweater with black jeans, they didn't have the bandaid over their cheek, nor were they smaller than him. However, he was different as well, even after all the RESETs and LOADs somehow he’d grown complacent as the years stretched by without even the slightest feeling of déjà vu. He never truly believed Frisk's promise...but recently he'd begun to think that maybe he could start to trust the kid. Yet...here he was. Standing in the Judgement Hall once again.

Sure, the kid didn’t RESET but they had reloaded a SAVE. Sans hadn’t been through a reload in a while...and he knew that most reloads weren’t the kid’s fault...but this? This was. Not even to save a life, or prevent something horrible from happening. Just not wanting to have guilt on their conscience. Sans felt tired...and there was a deep anger in his SOUL reigniting once again.

Frisk’s eyes wander over the room around the two of them silently before they dropped into a deep crouch. They crossed their arms over their knees and just kind of...curled up into a ball before leaning back and landing heavily on their ass.

“Everything,” the admission was quiet but it echoed throughout the judgement hall. Sans’ fist tightened in his pocket.

You knew...everything?

“what’s everything?” Sans demanded, “she obviously knows about your ability to RESET...but what else?”

Frisk looked away for a moment, staring at the window quietly. Sans wasn’t an overly chatty guy himself, and he knew that it was somewhat harder for Frisk to form their thoughts into words. Especially now. However, he was a very patient kinda guy, so he stood there waiting for Frisk to speak...and organized his own thoughts. You knowing about the RESETs and everything that Frisk had done in the Underground didn’t really bother him. What did bother him was...if Frisk told you everything? You knew that he had killed a kid. Dozens and dozens of times. Hopefully, Frisk had told you _why_ he had killed Frisk over and over and over again.

“Like I said...everything. About Flowey...about Chara,” Frisk taped their temple with a finger. They weren’t talking about the swapped version of Chara...but the one that had whispered in their head urging them to kill throughout their travels. “How I can RESET...how I committed genocide...about how you stopped me. I told her how I promised you and Red that I would never RESET...and Chara made the same promise to Stretch and Mutt.”

Sans reluctantly walked over and stood in front of Frisk. “yeah. you did promise, kiddo...and look what happened. you almost RESET. i almost believed you too...but i know your promises are shit now.”

Frisk brought their knees closer to their chest and they suddenly did look like that small child that he crossed paths within this very same spot so many years ago in so many different ways. Yet...Sans couldn’t bring himself to feel any sympathy for Frisk, not right now.

“you know how dangerous RESETTING could be, right? stretch, red, mutt and i did the tests when this all happened. even LOADing a SAVE could potentially unravel our world. or it could bring in another universe, which could theoretically alter our universe so badly that we might not be able to recognize it anymore,” Sans scolded, glaring down at his old friend. He...really wasn’t sure if he’d continue to view Frisk as his friend anymore. Frisk almost risked his SOULmate’s entire existence because of their emotional reaction. So, yeah. His anger was growing a bit. Sometimes he was allowed to feel things other than emptiness.

Frisk curled up even tighter if that was possible, “I’m sorry...”

“sorry doesn’t really cut it here, buddy,” Sans crouched down. “you could’a ended all of our exisistence, yknow.”

“I panicked!” Frisk blurted out, still not looking into Sans’ eyes. “I just...I had the menu up and I was going to close it but then Red and Stretch were glaring at me, Papyrus asked a question, and you did your scary voice thing and I hit LOAD without thinking!”

Sans didn’t say anything, just stared at Frisk blankly. His ever-present smile was tense, and his hands were clenched tightly. He felt the apathetic thought process start creeping back into his mind. It didn’t matter. That moment didn’t matter anymore. It was gone. Ripped away and shattered just like r̵´̮̯̜̠̿͑̚e̸͉̦̳̼͑d̶̙̹̲̈̾͋̈a̵̕~̮̙͉͗͆̂c̷̝͕̟͑̈̒͘ṱ̸̜̈́̆͆͋e̷͂͆~̡̡͚d̸̛͓̬̋. While he could stay furious and unforgiving forever towards Frisk, he knew that you’d notice and you’d question him. Then he’d either have to give you the straight answer or have to lie. Neither appealed to him. It...he didn't want you to remember the resets like he, Stretch, Red, and Mutt did. He didn't want to see you get the same sort of apathetic attitude towards life. 

Let Frisk tell you everything...they seemed to like to do that anyway.

“why’d you tell her?” Sans asked, sitting down on the stone instead of smacking Frisk upside the head with a bone. He didn’t like fighting. Never had and never would. Hell, the only times he even lifted a finger towards Frisk in violence was only when they committed a genocide run. Even if Frisk killed Papyrus, and only Papyrus, he never fought.

His anger didn’t matter.

He was the Judge, he fought only when his Justice triumphed over his Patience, and wouldn't allow him to sit idly by.

Nothing actually happened. Only a small amount of time was devoured into the void. So...why should he care?

He cared a lot.

But not enough to fight Frisk.

His feelings never mattered.

“When you wake up every night in one week screaming about your sins? Yeah, your girlfriend is like ‘babe wtf?’” Frisk snorted humorlessly, and then slowly uncurled from the ball they had put themselves in. Even risked a glance at Sans. Thankfully, the skeleton’s eye lights were both there. Frisk didn’t know how they would have reacted if Sans’ eyelights were gone or if that big blue orb had floated around in his left socket. “She also knows about the whole...universes merging thing. Although, if she thinks too much about it…it’s like her mind does a RESET to before she starts thinking about it? Like I was talking about going to visit the Toriel of Underfell, and I had to tell her that a few times before I just said ‘the Fell Queen’ and then she understood what I meant. I’m just glad most of the ‘alternates’ have come up with nicknames or it’d be way too confusing.”

“she calls the others by their actual names occasionally,” Sans hummed, curiosity slightly overriding his disappointed anger. You were aware of the Merge? Why hadn't you mentioned anything? Sans knew that you knew the others weren't really called Red or Edge, but he hadn't really thought too hard on it. He always assumed that the others had told you their _actual_ names seperately. If you were aware of the Merge and could identify them each as the same person...could you remember when time reset?

“I don’t know much about RESET magic logic, but that’s probably cus she’s your guys’ SOULmates,” Frisk pointed out, voice only slightly strained. Sans could swear he felt sweat collecting on his skull.

“uh...what? wanna run that by me again, pal?” Sans asked, trying to keep his voice light. How did Frisk know you were his SOULmate?

“Papyrus told me that all of you guys are her SOULmates back when I was still dating her,” Frisk explained, voice oddly blank of emotion. Frisk then snorted, uncurling a bit more. Sans was relaxing as well. He still didn’t trust Frisk not to RESET...but at least if they did, he wouldn’t be disappointed. He’d just be resigned to it.

Pain darted through his SOUL and he rubbed at it. If the kid was going to RESET, that meant he had to wait to meet you again. Had to watch you lose your mother again. Things that were unavoidable he would have to watch you suffer through. Stars...he had a reason to prevent another RESET. At the beginning he hadn’t been aware of the RESETs, and then when he did become aware of them? He studied as much as he could to figure out how to stop them, how to prevent his brother from being murdered...but no matter what he did? It didn’t matter. His brother would Dust. He’d have to wait until another RESET.

How long until he became apathetic towards you?

The thought hurt more than he wanted to admit.

“is that why you broke up with her?” he asked, voice clearly strained.

Frisk shook their head. “There’s a lot of reasons why we broke up, but most of them had to do with me being the Ambassador...and some with what I told her about what happened Underground.”

Sans didn’t deserve you...

Not that people could deserve other people...but you didn’t deserve such an apathetic slob like himself to be your SOULmate.

“So...uh, go date the shit out of my ex...yeah?” Frisk mumbled, “she deserves someone like you.”

Sans visibly startled at that, “what do you mean?”

Frisk fiddled with their shoelace for a moment. “You’re...patient...understanding. Yeah, you’re kind of a weird gross gremlin at times, but honestly...when you care about someone...you really care. Your brother...mom...heck, even the other skeletons....and now her.”

“look, bucko-“

“You’re uncomfortable,” Frisk pointed out, eyes lifting from their shoe lace to meet the skeletons gaze. Sans didn’t respond right away, just shifted awkwardly in his spot.

Fuck yeah he was uncomfortable, he didn’t know _how _to react right now. On one hand, he was still disappointed in Frisk for nearly RESETTING. For destroying everything. None of them knew how this fragile universe would handle with a full RESET. The four universes had merged together when the barriers were brought down at the exact same time, and as far as Sans and the others were able to tell all the humans had been merged as one because they’re world had been so similar that it was almost as if the universe had detected the duplicates and deleted the excesses. As for the monsters, they were different enough due to the differences in the Underground that the world didn’t truly identify them as duplicates. If Frisk had RESET, there was no telling what would happen to the four combined universes. Sure, there was the chance that it could break the four universes apart and everything would truly return to what it was....or...the RESET could completely obliterate everything they knew.

However, on the other hand...Frisk had always been great at winning people and monsters over to their side. Sans was no exception. Even with all the bad timelines, he was currently living in a good one. He knew he wouldn’t trust the kid as he once did...never again...but there was one thing he could count on. Frisk cared about _you_. Sure, Sans could say that Frisk cared about him or Papyrus, but Frisk had killed the skeletons brothers in the past. They had never killed you, or raised a mean hand against you. So, he was conflicted really.

Frisk could RESET and destroy the entire merged universe and thus Sans and you, and yet, here they were, telling him to ‘date the shit’ out of their ex.

Frisk sighed, yanking Sans out of his quiet contemplation. “Sans...I am sorry for LOADing. I...really shouldn’t have. I’d say I’d promise not to actively do it again, but...I can’t? I will _never _even think of RESETTING again.”

“you better not, you could destroy everything,” Sans reminded, voice gruff as he shoved his hands further into his pockets. “and...this timeline might actually be worth experiencing to the end.”

For a moment, Frisk just stared at their old friend, before they sighed softly. “Look...she’s her own women. We both know that...and I kinda fucked up by trying to help her in a way that she didn’t want. Thus the LOAD. So, it’s up to her if she wants to date you or the others...but I’ll just say this...she’d totally be up for the _bone_-zone.”

Sans snorted, and looked up at Frisk. “really, kiddo? bone puns? that’s beneath you.”

“What? You got a _bone _to pick with me?” Frisk slipped into their mimicry of Sans’ voice easily, make Sans snort again.

“i don’t sound like that,” Sans denied immediately, “just for that i’m teaching that kid every single pun you hate.”

“Then I’m going to warn her to never let the kid near you so it doesn’t learn your awful humour,” Frisk retorted back, voice returning to normal as they stuck their tongue out at him.

“have fun getting back to the surface, kid, it’s a pretty long walk back to home from here,” Sans said, getting to his feet.

Frisk jumped to their feet and grabbed onto his hoodie. “Fine! I won’t stop you! But I will get your brother to!”

Sans snorted, “paps is just as bad with puns, he just hates the low hanging fruit.”

“Thanks for talking some sense into me, Sans,” Frisk mumbled before the Void encircled them and spat them back out into the living room. It was empty but they both could hear the chatter from the kitchen. Sans felt his SOUL tug as he heard your laughter at something alongside Toriel’s. Frisk patted his back, grinning and the two of them eagerly headed towards the kitchen.

Red and Edge were suspiciously absent, a fact that Sans would have to deal with at a later point. However, he chose to ignore that in favour of watching as Toriel exasperatedly attempted to deal with Papyrus’ attempts to help and Stretch sneaking samples of the pie filling when she turned her back. You looked substantially happier than you had...before.

He’d check the machine after everyone else went to bed...and if there wasn’t any signs of extra anomalies he’d probably fully forgive Frisk for the LOAD. However, he and Blue both knew that if there were too many anomalies? Other skeletons would start showing up...and Sans really, _really_ didn’t want to see some of the...darker skeletons around you.

Not now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whahaha look! A Sans POV Chapter! Crazy! Amirite?
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	12. Chapter 12

A few days after your discovery that you were indeed pregnant, you hadn’t been able to look or speak to Frisk without feeling a bit of irritation in your chest. You didn’t know why…but it was there. Thankfully, however, it faded three days after, and you were able to message them without feeling that burst of resentment. You stopped focusing on the why as well, and you wanted to move away from your breakdown and on with your life.

You would be living with the skeletons, paying dirt cheap rent, and they didn’t care if you had Egg nor that you were pregnant. Well…they did, but not in the way you would’ve imagined it. They were actually excited for it, and you had seen pregnancy books in Stretch’s room when you went to go and return a book you borrowed to his room. It made you feel very unprepared so you borrowed those books as well.

Four days after discovering you were pregnant, Red appeared in your car as you returned back from work. It startled you and you dropped your purse, dumping it’s contents all over the passenger floor. He flashed you an apologetic grin when you snapped his name.

“heh…sorry,” he apologized as he bent over to start picking up your things. You held open your purse and allowed him to dump the items in randomly.

“Wanna tell me why you’re in my car?” you asked once he had completely picked up all your junk.

“can we go to McDonalds,” he asked, reaching down and adjusting the passenger seat so it was very reclined.

“No? Why do you want to go to McDonalds, we have food in the house?” you said, frowning slightly at him, “Edge complained that you already had Grillby’s today too. I don’t think he’d be pleased that I took you to McDonald’s as well.”

“who? my bro or grillbz?” Red asked, buckling himself up.

“Both?”

“well neither of them need to know. look i’ll even pay,” he insisted, and you groaned loudly but stuffed your keys back into the ignition. There was one thing you’d never turn down and that was free food. Although, you would honestly rather get Grillby’s. His food never tasted unhealthy even if it was smothered with greasy goodness. Probably had something to do with magic.

It was actually a lot longer of a drive to the nearest McDonald’s than you thought it would be. You couldn’t remember the last time you had bothered to go to a fast food restaurant after you had been introduced to Grillby’s. He’d give out to go orders to regulars, and you had started going there regularly enough that you got the privellage yourself, and even before you had become a regular, if Frisk asked you to pick up Grillby’s back when the two of you were dating, he’d willingly whip you up a to go order.

You made Red get out and go inside the McDonald’s so that you could actually do what you had wanted to do when you got home from work. It barely took you any time at all to schedule an appointment with an OB-GYN, and you were left playing phone games until he blipped back into your passenger seat. You jumped a bit but it was more expected than before, so you only gave him a _soft_ glare. Which softened instantly as he crinkled the bag at you, and you made grabby hands. He chuckled.

“let’s go somewhere to eat these,” he suggested, and you groaned heavily.

“You buy me food and make me wait for it? The worst. Awful,” you grumbled, but he merely laughed at your empty words. “Where to?”

“uh…yknow where classic took ya star gazing?” he asked, looking down at the bag in his lap and rummaging around before popping a fry into his mouth.

“Not really, and that’s too far. The food will be cold by then,” you complained, and so he took pity on you. Instead of there, he made you drive about ten minutes…which was still way too far away in your opinion. Your food was totally going to be cold, and cold McDonald’s wasn’t great. Especially the fries because they’d get all limp and icky.

It was an abandoned building just on the outskirts of town. You glanced over at him.

“Are you going to kill me? Because this is very murder-y,” you gestured towards the building.

“what? no??? what the hell?” he said giving you a look, and you shrugged.

“I don’t know dude! You’re the one bringing me to an abandoned building, this is like…peak murder vibes!” you gestured again to the building.

“i wouldn’t kill ya,” he grumbled before disappearing from your passenger seat (along with your food) and appeared about fiteen feet away from the front of your car. You sighed and cut the engine. You trusted Red, and really, you didn’t think that he was planning on murdering you. If he was, he wouldn’t have wasted money on buying you food first. That much you knew. So, you got out of the car, making sure to bring your valuables, and locked the car. Then double checked that the car was locked, before following after Red.

He led you up to the roof, and all the way you were stepping _very_ carefully and pointing out that you were pregnant and you weren’t sure if you were up to date with your tetanus shots. Being very dramatic about the whole thing until you noticed that Red was actually getting nervous the more you mentioned all the things that you could potentially catch if you got the tiniest of scrapes here.

So, you shut up.

To be honest, Red had seemed rather…nervous whenever you handled sharp objects at home, and texted you when you normally got to work more often than not, and was always home when you got home. It was…strange. That wasn’t like him. Normally you were lucky if you saw Red at all outside the hours of 5-10 PM. Now you were regularly seeing him for breakfast even if none of the self-proclaimed cooks were making breakfast.

Red pushed open the door and you snorted out a laugh at the set up. There was two beach chairs, one of those patio umbrella’s, a table, and a firepit on the roof. You glanced over at him and quirked your eyebrow. “Do you really come here this often?”

“yeah,” Red said, walking over and plopping down on one of the beach chairs and rustling through the McDonald’s bag. “me n’ boss come up here after our therapy sessions to talk shit through. helps. ya want ketchup or mustard?”

You gave your opinion on condiments before settling down and accepting your food. “I can’t imagine Edge coming up here,” you admitted, looking around, “Seems too….”

“disgustingly unfit for someone of his caliber?” Red offered, with a knowing smirk. You laughed at that and nodded. “s’cus no one thinks ta look for ‘im up here…don’t wanna talk if someone can over hear us, y’know?”

You nod. “How is Edge? He’s been on…well…edge for the past couple of days. Even more than usual.”

Red shrank a bit into his jacket as he shoved a handful of fries into his mouth. “s’cus a the babybones.”

You had started to relax back into the other beach chair, but hesitated slightly. “What about the baby?”

A sigh escaped him, “look…uh…so king asgore made’a law that anyone who hurt kids would be executed, right? which monsters agreed with, because only real asshole’s kill kids…but their parents? don’t matter. once yer outta yer stripes yer fair game…and if ya pissed off the wrong monster? it don’t matter if ya have a kid waitin’ for ya.”

It was like a punch in the gut every time Red talked about his part of the Underground. (Or…his Underground? You quickly returned to the previous thought, it was easier to think of the Underground as having multiple different ‘clans’ rather than what Frisk had told you many years ago.) A reminder that he grew up taking care of a kid brother, and once he was old enough that he couldn’t get away with wearing stripes anymore, he had to start fighting. Your eyes flicked down to his golden tooth and you winced slightly. He had never told you how he got it…and you didn’t know if you could handle knowing. Not yet at least.

“and…uh..yer babybones is insid’ya,” he gestured to your stomach, “so...s’worrying…”

You sat up and reached across the seats towards him, placing a hand on his forearm. “Red, this isn’t the Underground. No one’s going to try to kill me.”

“hehe…yeh…we _get_ that,” Red said, a bit of sweat starting to form on his skull. “been said ‘nuff times by my therapist…but old habits…y’know? n’like what if? what if that bastard tries somethin’? or-or someone tries ta break in ta the house? or-”

“Sans,” you abandoned your food and shifted over to sit on the beach chair next to him. The sweat was getting worse and his eyelights were shrinking slowly. You pulled him into a hug, and he melted against you, the softest shiver rolling through his body. “I’m going to be fine. Trust me. If it really scares you this bad, we can see about installing better security on the house. Which…I’m pretty sure you guys already have really good security, but! We can look, alright?” His head nodded against your shoulder, and his hands moved to clutch at the back of your shirt. “How long have you been holding this in?” you asked quietly.

“uh…since we learned ‘bout it,” he grumbled, slightly muffled by your shoulder. “tibia honest…ya scared the hell outta me.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, instantly, and you were. Edge and Red were still the closest to you out of the skeletons even though you were living with them all. You knew that if you weren’t close to them, they wouldn’t have told you about their therapy sessions, Red wouldn’t let you see his anxiety attacks, and Edge would be a lot cooler with you. They were some of your best friends, and you hadn’t been able to allay their fears that something _bad_ had happened.

If you hadn’t stopped Frisk-

Stopped Frisk from doing what? You frowned….Frisk had shown up after you began making the pie with Toriel. Even if they had apparently arrived at the same time. Where had they gone? Sans too…he had just kind of disappeared shortly after.

Also…Red and Edge had disappeared for a while there.

“Red,” you leaned back, “Where did you and Edge go after you figured out I was pregnant?”

His eyelights shrank a bit more, “nowhere. went ta talk.”

“Did you happen to go anywhere with Frisk?” you asked, trying to keep your suspicion out of your voice.

“yer askin’ if we went ta beat up that bastard?” Red said, voice more stable than it had been. He huffed, “nah, frisk still won’t tell me where he works…and showin’ up at his home won’t scare him nuff.”

“Red,” you warned.

He simply patted your back with one of his hands, before pulling you a bit closer. “we protect our own, kid,” he mumbled rubbing your back lightly, “if ya really don’t want us ta do something, tell us, n’we’ll respect it.”

“Don’t hurt him,” you poked him lightly in the sternum, “Mostly for your own sake. You know Fell monsters get a shitty hand in the justice system. If you hurt him or harass him? I don’t want to see you getting thrown in jail over his stupid ass.”

“but if i do go to jail will you visit me?” Red teased and you groaned.

“Only if Edge does,” you compromised and you saw Red deflated dramatically.

“tch, better not get arrested then. fine, i won’t punch his ugly mug in,” Red relented with a smirk.

“Thanks, Red,” you smiled and patted his chest. But…there was one more question you wanted to ask him before you moved back to your chair and finished your probably cold dinner. “Why do you consider me ‘your own’,” you attempted to mimic his deep, accented voice but his face just filled with mirth at the attempt, and he started snorting out giggles.

“t-tha’ was adorable,” he giggled out, reaching up and poking your nose. You wrinkled your nose at him and he just laughed harder. “gosh, sweetheart, why’re you so damn cute all the time?”

“I dunno, now answer my question,” you said, waving your hand in front of your face when he reached to try to poke your nose again. A sigh left his mouth, or the vicinity of it, and he looked away from your briefly.

“uh…do i gotta?” he asked quietly.

“I mean…no, you don’t have to answer any question. I was just wondering.”

A few moments went past, and you were about to tell him it was fine and get up to move back to the other chair when you noticed that he was starting to sweat again. Then his eyelights flicked back towards you.

“s’cus…uh…we…y’know,” he stammered out quietly, “like ya…a lot.”

Your eyebrow rose slightly, “I…like you a lot too?”

“hehehe,” he dropped his gaze again, “s’more than…like…yknow…uh…but…anyways, uh y-yer food s’cold.”

More than like.

Is…is Red really being a teenager right now? He _like_ likes you?

“You like like me?” you voice, and his eye lights shrink a bit more.

“uh….”

You let out a gentle laugh, “no one can hear you, Red.”

“…tch…don’t tease me, sweetheart.”

You leaned forward and kissed his cheek bone lightly. “You’re the sweetheart, Red.”

He grumped, looking extremely pleased and upset at the same time. “m’not.”

You stood up, and his arms followed you for a second before he let go with a grump and shoved his hands into his pocket and shrank into his jacket once again. If he was really upset, you’d find a way to get him to relax but you knew it was just a show for his own sake.

It took a while before he relaxed again and had taken to eating the mustard out of the small packets. Only then did you shift so you were looking at him more.

“So, you and Blue like like me,” you stated and he groaned loudly.

“damn blue confessin’ first,” Red grumbled and you chuckled. His eyelights flashed over to you, and his face softened ever so slightly, “yknow…uh…if…when, y’know, you’re all ready to try ta date again…i wouldn’t complain if ya…dated…both of us?”

You mouth slacked and your eyebrows drew together. “Like…polyamoury?”

“that the human term for it?” Red asked, looking away, “i guess?”

You frowned a bit and looked away as well.

Thoughts started flooding your head as you searched for some form of an answer.

That…complicated things?...Didn’t it? No, it totally did. Blue and Red obviously wouldn’t be dating (or would they…they were cousins...but not really? You knew that they technically were the same person so would that make them related or...? You stopped thinking about that because it made your brain hurt...), so they’d be dating you. Sure…you could see Red being okay with either an open relationship or a polyamorous one, but Blue? He seemed the kinda guy to be exclusive and want the same in return. Besides, how could you breach that subject with Blue? Should you even? You _just_ got out of a shitty relationship with one guy, how could you handle dating two monsters, and yeah, you assumed it would be the same as a human one (and you knew that they were capable of…yknow….)

(Okay. Your eyes totally did not just look at Red’s crotch. Nope. He thankfully wasn’t looking even if you did.)

But there was probably going to be differences considering they were monsters, and from different ‘clans’ at that. Different cultures?

Besides, there was the whole societal aspect too…if people you knew figured out that you were dating multiple guys? If Chad figured that out? Your father?

Plus, wouldn’t that be selfish of you?

Dating two guys?

“I’m not that special,” you blurted out, and Red’s head whipped towards you.

“what was that, sweetheart?” he asked, sitting up slightly.

“I mean…like I’m…not? I got an average job, average looks…and like you both are…” you trailed off, rubbing the side of your neck. “so like? It doesn’t make sense? That you’d both be into me at the same time, plus like being okay with dating me at the same time. I mean, why me? Plus, like…Blue probably wouldn’t be into that either, and I couldn’t even ask if I wanted to because that’d feel selfish and stupid of me? I don’t know….”

“tch, like i give a fuck whatcha do with yer life job wise, classic and i switch between a hot dog stand and workin’ at the university, and i prefer the hot dog stand,” Red gestured to himself, “and yer fucking gorgeous so i dunno what yer talkin’ about with being ‘average’. ‘sides, if i called up babyblue right now, i bet he’d be over the moon bout the fact that you wanted to date him, and if i said that you wanted to date me too? he’d be pumped and want to outdate me.”

Red even pulled out his phone and you lurched across the small distance between the chairs to grab at it. “Don’t!”

He caught your arm and pulled you over onto his chair, you let out an ‘oof’ as you toppled half on top of him.

“yer more special to us than ya know, sweetheart,” he mumbled into your ear, “but m’just sayin’ for the future to consider it. nothin’ gotta be decided right now.”

You blushed furiously, scrambling up so you weren’t lounged on his lap, “I know. I was just! Thinking!”

“heh, i’ll take it. now, yer gunna eat the rest of yer food?” he asked, gesturing to the food abandoned on the small table. You shook your head, it was really grossly cold now. He shrugged and popped the rest of it into his mouth. “think my bro’s done cookin’ supper?”

You rubbed lightly at your cheek, “u-uh…I-I dunno?”

“let’s go find out. i’m starvin’.”

“You just ate nearly two meals,” you pointed out, causing him to chuckle.

“yeah? come’on sweetheart, i’m nothin’ but bones!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Red <3
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	13. Chapter 13

A week flew by without you really noticing. After you had gotten back from the impromptu expedition with Red, you had noticed that both Stretch and Sans seemed exhausted more than usual. Any attempt at asking them what was up was basically stonewalled. The others seemed to be a bit more tired as well, but that wasn’t saying much. Sans, Edge, and Papyrus never seemed to be tired. It was as if it wasn’t in their nature.

Still, you didn’t dwell on it, your mind was consumed by Red’s confession, Blue’s confession from weeks earlier, and the new responsibility you had in your life. Egg was being extra affectionate lately as well, curling up on your stomach and purring contentedly whenever you were laying semi-reclined anywhere. Speaking of Egg, someone had started to clean out the litter box for you in the bathroom each morning, and when you asked all the skeletons piped up about how they read that changing the litter for cats can transfer toxoplasmosis which is bad for the baby.

Apparently they’d all started to read up on pregnancy, which warmed your heart tremendously, but you had to give them the whole talk about not overreacting about pregnancy stuff. You knew the moment you told them not to look up certain things, they totally would, so you avoided telling them specifics. Just…casually told them that there are plenty of scary things about pregnancy but there are a lot of cool things too and if they could focus on the cool things that’d make it so much better all around.

Plus, you had an appointment with the OB-GYN later in the day so you were sure you’d hear a bunch of things you needed to avoid to avoid complications and you didn’t need a bunch of skeletons freaking out about it either. That’d just make you freak out about it as well. Nor did you need to hear the same thing from a bunch of skeletons who weren’t even aware two weeks ago that human babies could happen with the intent to _want_ one.

The appointment came and went and you held the printed out ultrasound photos that showed a little kidney bean-shaped thing. It was so strange to think that _that _was inside of you, and you weren’t even showing yet. You huffed out a soft sigh and put the photo aside and drove back to the house. The entire appointment had been draining as hell, and you just wanted to curl up with Egg and eat something salty.

The boys had a rare day off altogether but you hadn’t told any of them that you were leaving. Not because you didn’t want them to know, but because no one had been in the main living room when you left the house. Not that you needed to tell them where you were going anyways, but when living with a roommate you generally just let them know you’d be out if they needed anything from you. Just as a courtesy.

As you walked in, you saw Edge, Papyrus, and Blue halfway through an Underground version of monopoly that was probably being way too intensely played. While Red, Sans, and Stretch watched on, all three of them nursing their own condiments and they instantly turned to see who came into the house.

“Hey,” you said with a wave, slipping off your jacket and giving them a small smile.

“OH! YOU’RE BACK!” Blue said cheerfully, “WE WANTED TO ASK IF YOU WANTED TO PLAY, BUT WE’RE ALREADY TOO FAR INTO THE GAME TO ADD ANOTHER PLAYER.”

“Oh! No worries,” you waved a hand, “You guys do your thing. Maybe I’ll play the next time.”

The possibility of you playing with them was small. You weren’t even close to _their_ level of competitiveness, and from the state of the board, they had been at this for a while and would be at it for quite some more time.

“WE COULD RESET,” Papyrus suggested, giving you a grin.

“YOU ONLY WANT TO RESET BECAUSE YOU’RE LOSING,” Edge retorted crossing his arms and glaring across the coffee table at Papyrus.

“OH, BUT YOU LANDED ON MY MTT RESORT PROPERTY, WHICH HAS A RENT OF 2000G DUE TO THE HOTEL. WHICH BANKRUPTS YOU,” Papyrus pointed out with a shit-eating grin, “UNLESS YOU WISH TO SELL ME SOME OF YOUR PROPERTIES?”

You saw Edge’s hand curling into a fist as he examined the board. Things were about to get heated over a stupid board game, so you quickly stepped forward and held up your ultrasound photo.

“Look! A baby!” you said loudly, pointing at the white blotch of a kidney bean.

It startled all the skeletons, which is exactly the reaction you wanted. Distract them from a fight, and you could potentially prevent them from fighting! Potentially. There were a few times when they’d let the topic go for a bit before resuming when there was less of a distraction. It was almost as if some of them just bickered and argued for the sake of it.

“when’dja get that?” Red asked plucking it from your fingers and holding it so both Sans and Stretch could see. They leaned closer to each other studying the photo.

“I went to my first prenatal appointment today,” you explained, “It’s my lil'bean.”

You saw Red’s eye lights grow a bit bigger before quivering and returning to normal tiny pinpricks. You wondered, not for the first time, if the skeletons were constantly in control of their eye lights or if they were more like pupils and shifted without control. Then again, Blue’s eye lights were always larger than the others…so perhaps not? Maybe you’d ask Sans about it, he seemed like he’d know the most about skeletal magical anatomy.

You saw Edge peering briefly at the picture before he returned his attention back to the board and scowled. Originally, you had planned to show Red and Edge separately so they could react in whatever way they wanted without worrying that the other skeletons could see, but you had a feeling Edge would seek you out later and use some sort of excuse to see the ultrasound privately.

Blue and Papyrus had both abandoned the game and were crowding around the other three in order to look more closely.

“IT’S SO SMALL,” Blue almost cooed, “HOW BIG IS IT?”

“Uh…the doctor compared it to a cherry? Oh! And she recommended I download an app to help keep track of shit which reminds me I gotta do that,” you mumbled the last part to yourself as you fished out your phone from your pocket. You heard them discussing the baby happily and smiled to yourself as you sat down beside Edge. However, your attention on everything else waned as you went through the motions of downloading the app. As you did, you very gently you nudged Edge's leg with your own, and a few moments later he shifted his leg so it was pressed against yours. Doing it very subtly so that the others didn’t notice. He wasn’t truly angry about the game, just keeping up appearances. Good.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US YOU HAD THIS APPOINTMENT?” Papyrus asked suddenly, settling back down in his spot.

“Hm?” you glanced up from your phone, “Oh, because…do…I need to tell you guys where I’m going?”

“nah, just…we told you that you’re not alone, we would’ve gone with you if you asked,” Sans piped up, handing the ultrasound photo back to you. You took it and held it loosely in one hand so that it was semi-tilted towards Edge as you shrugged.

“I know, but I can do the appointments by myself. It’s no big deal, plus, my doctor is super understanding so it’s not scary or anything,” you said and returned your gaze back down to your phone, resting the photo in your lap. “All that really happens is they talk about my development, what I should be expecting, recommendations for shit, do some tests blah blah blah, check up on the bean and then I’m all good. Or something, I dunno, this is my first appointment. I didn’t ask too many questions.”

“DO YOU GET ULTRASOUND PICTURES EVERY TIME YOU GO?” Blue asked.

“Uh, no. The doctor said I’ll get my next one later on when the baby is more baby-shaped and less bean-y,” you answered, inputting information into your app.

“when’s the due date?” Sans asked, and you looked up briefly, brow furrowed in thought. The doctor told you a rough estimate.

“June, probably. Due dates are weird,” you shrugged, before finishing up the information for the app and leaned back. “Anyways, I’m starving, what’s going on for dinner? Together? Fend for ourselves?”

“THE LAZY BONES OVER THERE WANT TO ORDER IN SINCE WE ARE ALL OFF TODAY, BUT SINCE WE’RE ALL OFF TODAY THE THREE OF US WANT TO COOK SOMETHING. SO, WE’RE AT A STANDOFF,” Edge said, giving the three lazy skeletons a glare. “AS WE TRY TO DO EVERYTHING BY MAJORITY VOTE.”

“Ah, well, while you guys decide that, I am going to go and see if we have any more salty chips leftover,” you stood up and then gave Red a glare, “and you better not have eaten them all.”

“heheh,” Red chuckled, “i left a few for ya, dollface, don’t worry.”

You intensified the glare, but he just grinned wider. “You left me three chips didn’t you.”

“what? i-i would_ never_ ever treat a pregnant lady like that, right bro?” Red said placing a hand dramatically on his chest and giving Edge an almost pleading look. Edge crossed his arms before looking up at you.

“I BET HE LEFT YOU FIVE.”

“bro!” Red grunted, “what the hell? ya gotta be on my side.”

“I WOULD IF YOU CLEANED UP YOUR ROOM LIKE I TOLD YOU,” Edge stood up and placed his hands on his hip bones, glaring at the board, “I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH PROPERTY VALUE TO PAY OFF THE RENT. I…LOST, SO I WILL CHANGE MY VOTE TO ORDERING TAKE OUT INSTEAD.”

There was a chorus of NOOOOOOOO’s and heck yeah!’s from the other skeletons, and you giggled behind your hand. Then a craving hit you fast and hard.

“Oh! Wait!” you blurted out, “Is there still oreo’s? I really want oreo’s.”

“sorry, hun,” Stretch gave you a grin that said he was only half-sorry. You pouted slightly. He chuckled, “i’ll pick up some after i’m done work tomorrow, deal?”

You let out a long-suffering groan but then nodded. “Deal…” but still…“I’m going to have to hide a stock of snacks in my room,” you grumbled half-heartedly before you turned and headed into the kitchen with your ultrasound. You placed it on the counter away from where it could accidentally get anything spilled on it before rummaging through the cabinets.

Edge followed you in a few seconds later and leaned against the counter. You caught him looking fondly down at the ultrasound and that made you smile happily as you pulled down the salty chips. However, the moment the bag of chips was in your grasp, you grumbled. Red totally left you only a few chips. You opened it and let out a betrayed groan, “Red, you jerk!”

“there’s another bag behind the oatmeal,” Red snickered, “like i said, wouldn’t treat a pregnant lady like that.”

You reached behind some of the boxes of dinosaur oatmeal and pulled out a second bag and grinned like a madwoman. Fuck yeah.

You opened the nearly empty bag and finished it off as you leaned next to Edge. Arguments over where to get food drifted in from the living room, and you merely smiled contently. Edge didn’t offer any commentary, just tapped the photo once before giving you a warm look before exiting the kitchen once again. His voice joined the argument…and something in that moment just felt right. Even though they were all arguing there was no real heat to it. You stayed a few more moments, munching happily on your snack before you marched over to your room with the full bag of chips. As you caught Red’s gaze, you threw a pointed glare at him and rustled the bag. He merely chuckled and winked at you, making your glare break slightly as you attempted to not smile back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nanowrimo begins this month! I'm doing something dumb and going to attempt to double the word count from 50,000 word target to 100,000! Why? Because I really, really want to write as much as I can for this fic AND for Chasing the End (which is nearing its completion~!) Plus, I'm working on additional projects on the side for another fandom I'm in, AND I want to start a new story for Undertale after I'm done writing Chasing the End.
> 
> In short? I love writing but sometimes I put way too much on my plate.
> 
> Anyways~! Hope you enjoyed this chapter [my Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Warnings:** Talking/mentions of dubious consent, controlling toxic relationships. If you do not wish to read this chapter, there will be a chapter summary at the bottom of the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warnings:** Talking/mentions of dubious consent, controlling toxic relationships. If you do not wish to read this chapter, there will be a chapter summary at the bottom of the chapter.

**Anna 12:15 PM:** _ Can we talk?_

That was how it started. Those three words that made your stomach drop and caused you to be unable to focus on anything else besides them at work. Can we talk? It had been two months and _now_ she wanted to talk? You could feel a budding headache forming, one that you weren’t able to tell if it was caused by your pregnancy or just from the stress that this whole endeavour was causing you. You really wanted to just…move past everything.

Maybe you were rushing things….maybe you shouldn’t be trying to shove it back and actually try to deal with the whole situation. Still, that didn’t stop you from being irritated as all hell towards your step-sister.

Even so, you responded back with a simple ‘sure’ and she asked if you could come over to her apartment once you were finished work. There…was a strange urgency to her texts. You didn’t exactly…dislike Anna, you just never really had anything in common with her and she was a few years younger than you.

You sent off a text to Papyrus apologizing and saying that you wouldn’t be home for dinner, that you weren’t sure when you’d be home, and that you needed to take care of something. He responded back asking you to message him when you were on the way home if you hadn’t eaten anything and he’d heat up some leftovers for you. You smiled at that and sent him a text back thanking him.

Now….the stressful bit.

You drove across town to your sister's small one-bedroom apartment. You hadn’t ever been there before, again, not the closest to your sister. It took a bit more time for you to actually find the right complex and then you got buzzed in. Your hands were sweaty as you rode the elevator up to the fourteenth floor and walked down the hall.

There was a little niggling thought in the back of your mind as you stared at her door, hand raised to knock. What if Chad was there? You would turn around walk right back out. But, honestly? You wouldn’t put it past Anna to do something like that. A year ago? You would’ve thought her incapable of doing anything malicious…but now you were realizing you didn’t really know your step-sister. She was capable of sleeping with your then-boyfriend.

After a deep, rooting breath, you rapped lightly against the door.

The door cracked open slowly, and then Anna gave you a weak smile.

“Hey,” she said simply. Awkwardly.

You forced out a ‘hey’ in response before she stepped aside and invited you inside. There was only a bit of hesitation before you walked inside the small cramped apartment. That surprised you, but you didn’t comment on it. You were sure that your father and step-mother would’ve totally given her help to get a bigger and fancier apartment.

Then again, you thought that they would’ve been more sympathetic to your whole situation than they were.

“Want something to drink? I got water, tea….coke…sprite…uhm…” she slowly trailed off, fidgeting and glancing towards the fridge. You shook your head.

“Let’s…just get to what you wanted to talk about,” you said, not unkindly. There was a bit of churning anger in the pit of your stomach, but you were keeping the flames down. Until she gave you a real reason to snark at her. There was the unfortunate aspect that she looked positively like a deer in headlights and kept fidgeting with the hem of her shirt that pulled out some sympathy from deep within you.

Anna slowly sat down on the couch as far away from you as she could. “I…can explain myself…”

Your eyebrow quirked up at that, “Mhm? So, you can justify sleeping with my then-boyfriend in my own bed, can you?”

She jerked at that and looked pitifully close to crying. There were always people saying that you’d become more sympathetic when you became pregnant or a mother, yet you just found yourself irritated with Anna at the moment. As far as you could tell? She wasn’t the victim in this scenario at all. You were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but right now, you wanted to tell her to suck it up and just explain herself.

“I can’t justify it,” she said, rubbing at her nose and snuffling, “I just…I’m sorry…the first time it happened it was during that party that you went home to early because of work and I was pretty…drunk. And every time he got me alone…I just couldn’t bring myself to stop it? I know it doesn’t excuse it or anything. But I just…didn’t do it to hurt you. We’re not close, but I don’t hate you or wish you ill or anything. I just…was stupid. I haven’t slept with him since!”

You stared at her, and then rubbed at your eyes and looked down. “You were drunk….did…did he force you?”

“N-No?” she said and it sounded more like a question that your head whipped towards her.

“Did he, or did he not?”

She flinched, “It was…I mean, sometimes I really wanted to but sometimes it was just…because he wanted to?”

Your jaw clenched almost painfully, “Did he stop if you said no? Were you ever too drunk or put in a position where you couldn’t say no?”

“Uhm…yeah, he did, and…no, I wasn’t. Except maybe the first time? I’m…not sure, I’m pretty sure I said yes when he asked…” she said with a nod and you released a soft sigh.

“I’m still going to chop his fucking dick off,” you grumbled, startling her.

“I didn’t mean to make this about me!” she blurted out quickly, shifting closer, “I just…I wanted to apologize to you for hurting you. I just…I’m sorry….”

“Yeah,” you mumbled, rubbing your temple as the headache started to get worse. “Anything else you wanna say? Cus…this doesn’t exactly make everything magically better. Sure, I’m less pissed off at you than I was earlier, but honestly? Sure, I could forgive _you_ for the first time. You were drunk, he wasn’t as I recall. The other times? I don’t want to know how many or when or where, but more than once? That was a conscious decision on your part to not come to me to let me know that he was sneaking around my back. Alright?”

She nodded slowly, “I know, and I really didn’t expect to get your forgiveness. I wouldn’t forgive you for anything if our positions were flipped…and now Mom’s on my ass about this whole thing.”

“About…apologizing?” you said, jaw tightening again. That didn’t sound like your step-mom, she was the kind of woman who _refuses_ to admit when she’s wrong.

“No…uh,” Anna glanced down at her hands, “she’s freaking out about the 'scandal' of it all. She was pissed at you because you wouldn’t go back to Chad…and now she’s pissed at _me_ because I won’t stay with Chad either, even though I’m pregnant. I mean, I wasn’t even dating him or anything. It was just…you know, casual.”

“You’re pregnant,” you stated blankly, eyes flicking down to her stomach briefly as if you could see a baby bump.

“Yeah…two-ish months? I figured out last month and I wanted to get rid of it the moment I found out, but I made the mistake of telling Mom,” she mumbled glancing at her hands, “but she threatened to disown me if I did…and is demanding I tell Chad and I don’t know, get married to him or some shit because ‘women can’t be pregnant out of marriage’ because that’d be a ‘disgrace to our family’. Even if I put it up for adoption after the whole thing! Like!! I’m still in University, they’re paying for this apartment and my studies! I can’t be disowned!”

Hot rage slicked through your body.

“I’m definitely cutting off his dick,” you snarled, “I bet that fucking bastard planned this! And your fucking mother needs to butt her nose out of your business and my business.”

The look of surprise on Anna’s face was accompanied by recoiling as if you were furious at her. Which, you weren’t really. Any anger that you felt towards her was just adding onto the fury that you felt towards Chad.

“W-What? Planned this?” she stammered out, “What do you mean???”

“Fuck him! It’s a fucking awful tactic some people do to try to get their partners to stay with them. Mine might be an actual whoopsie because I didn’t know anything was going on…but where you threatening on leaving him?” you asked fists clenching together so tightly you knew there were going to be crescent-shaped marks in your palm.

Her eyebrows flew up, but she nodded slowly, looking every bit the younger sibling she is. All of a sudden, she gasped and grabbed at your hand. “Wait! Yours?!?”

“Yeah, I’m pregnant too, the slimy ass bastard,” you grumbled and then pulled your hand from her grip, “Still not forgiving you for sleeping with him…but fuck. This is not okay. I’m cutting off his dick.”

“I’m not getting back together with him! I don’t even want the baby!! Why would he do this???” she gasped out, curling in on herself. Her eyes instantly grew wet before she started to bawl. “I don’t want to be pregnant! But I can’t be disowned??? What do I do?”

You groaned to yourself before placing a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, look …I’ll talk to Dad about it…see if he can convince your mom to change her mind. You shouldn’t be forced to keep a baby you don’t want.”

Anna blinked back some tears and hiccupped, “W-What about your baby?”

You sighed, “I’m keeping it, but I’ve got a good support group for me.”

After giving your sister more emotional support than you were currently comfortable with, you told her if worse comes to worst and she really didn’t want to keep the baby? She could go and terminate the pregnancy and then lie to her mother saying that it was a miscarriage, as they can happen easily that early in a pregnancy. Anna hugged you, which you allowed briefly before you stiffly left her apartment and headed to your car.

The moment you closed the door you unblocked Chad’s number and called him. He picked up after three calls.

“Didn’t think I’d ever see your number calling again, huh, babe?” he said, all too smug for what you were about to say to him.

“You are the biggest piece of shit to ever grace this planet,” you snarled, “Guess who I just fucking talked to? Anna. Guess what? I know your fucking game, and I won’t let you fucking manipulate whoever you please just because you want to fuck them.”

“Whoa! What the fuck is wrong with you? I didn’t do anything to her! I don’t manipulate people,” he retorted, way too calm for his words to be doing anything _but_ lying.

“Yeah, you fucking do! You better stay the fuck away from Anna unless _she_ makes the decision to go to you, or I will kick. Your. Ass. Got it?” you demanded.

“Holy shit, babe, spending too much time with that pointy gold-tooth asshole? Think his dick-“

You hung up on him and slammed your hands against the steering wheel.

Fuck him. Fuck your Dad. Fuck Anna’s Dad. Fuck everything and everyone! This was utter bullshit. Why did everything have to have layers and layers of stupidity! Why couldn’t anything ever just be simple in your god damn life?

You couldn’t help but to release a frustrated scream before sitting back in your car and taking a few calming breaths. Fuck. You were going to go home, take a nice long bath while watching something funny and light-hearted, and then go the fuck to bed. You texted Papyrus letting him know you’d be home soon before assessing your mood and taking a few more breaths.

Once you were slightly calmer, you pulled out of the parking stall and headed home.

Maybe you’d mention to Sans or Stretch where Chad worked…they were less likely to start shit but equally able to terrify the shit out of him. A wicked grin stretched over your lips.

You were going to make Chad regret everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SUMMARY: Reader’s sister apologizes to Reader, and reveals she is pregnant. They discuss the toxic/controlling nature of Reader’s stepsister’s relationship with Chad along with the fact that there have been issues of dubious consent. They also discuss their parents controlling nature in regards to Reader’s sister pregnancy, and Reader is furious about the scenario.
> 
> On a fun note: FANART! OMG!!!  
https://coolthemixsuniverse.tumblr.com/post/188757150995/okay-so-i-made-some-fan-art-for  
https://coolthemixsuniverse.tumblr.com/post/188777455800/more-fan-art-of-my-persona-taking-care-of-the-bab  
https://coolthemixsuniverse.tumblr.com/post/188777464450/part-2-for-myownpersonaldemons-shes-easily


	15. Chapter 15

“Hey, Dad,” you said as you answered your phone, balancing it between your cheek and your shoulder as you helped Papyrus unpack the groceries. It’d been a week since Anna had admitted that she was pregnant to you, and you were still trying to figure out a way to talk to your father and step-mother about it. They weren’t exactly the most understanding people typically, and they’d already made up their mind about what Anna should do. So you didn’t expect that you really could change their minds…but you wanted to try regardless.

But still, you hadn’t been ready to talk to him yet, but he was the one phoning you.

“How are you?” he asked voice as neutral as always.

“Good,” you replied as you handed Papyrus a bag of things to put away in some of the taller shelves as you poked around for the bags of things to go in the fridge. “What about you?”

“Stressed,” he answered simply before sighing, “I know you’re not on speaking terms with your sister, but you’re part of this family, so I want to keep you up with what’s happening in it.”

“…okay?” you said, abandoning your search. This was it. Shit.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Okay.”

He was silent for a moment, “That is not how I thought you’d react.”

“I know, she told me last week,” you said simply, before glancing over at Papyrus. He was dutifully putting things into the cupboard but turned to look at you briefly when you waved at him. You gestured towards your phone, then towards your room, and held up your fingers to say you’d be a few minutes. He nodded, shooting you a smile, and you hurried to your room listening to your father’s quiet miffed silence.

He started talking just before you got to your door.

“I have never really liked Chad,” your father admitted, surprising you. You swore that he did like Chad...and so you took his meaning as 'I used to like him but now that I don't, I won't admit that I did.' Anna was supposed to be the good child, after all. “But he’s gotten Anna pregnant, so he should take responsibility for it.”

You closed the door behind you before you answered, you still hadn’t told the skeletons that your sister was pregnant too as this was family drama. So, a ‘you’ issue, not a ‘the house’ issue. You being pregnant was more or less a 'the house' issue simply because you were living there, everything else? You wouldn't bother them with it unless they asked you directly. 

“He should,” you agreed slowly, “Through child support...but Anna also told me she doesn’t want to keep the baby; she’s too young.”

A moment of silence, “I agree that Anna is too young, but she has to learn from her mistakes. She-“

“That’s not fair on her or the baby,” you interrupted, “Raising a child you don’t want can be detrimental to the child’s mental health.”

“She’ll learn to keep her issues to herself.”

“Ah, just like you. Right?” you said, allowing the bitterness to escape as you glared at your bed. Egg was curled up on your pillow and mewed quietly at you before rolling onto her back and stretching her paws above her head. Your glare softened slightly and you reached out to pet your cat, allowing some anger to dissipate.

“We’re not talking about me,” he said firmly, “We’re talking about your sister.”

You hummed your annoyance, “So, she’s too young, but she should have the responsibility of raising a child. Yeah?”

“Yes, and Chad should be a man. Marry her and take responsibility.”

Your mind must've short-circuited because you couldn’t quite explain the noise that you made. A mix between a grunt and a squawk. Anger and disbelief warring in your mind. “No! That’s ...that’s so- so fucking stupid?!? I mean- Can you? Just….be any more of an idiot?”

“Excuse me?” his voice dropped in anger.

“She should marry a known cheater? Because he knocked her up? That’s-That's! Stupid! If and when she gets married, she should be marrying someone she can trust, not someone who is a fucking idiot!”

“I won’t have a daughter of mine be unwed with a child,” he said quietly, voice brimming with anger.

Your face twisted up in a humourless grin, “Well, surprise! You have TWO daughters who are unwed and pregnant!”

“What?”

“Yeah, surprise! Chad knocked me up too! Is he supposed to marry us both? Father? Am I suppose to marry the man who cheated on me? Or because I’m your ex-wife’s daughter, you don’t give a fuck about me ruining your perfect family image?” you said, ignoring the fact that your voice rose.

You were met with silence, and you waited impatiently for him to say something. Anything.

When he didn’t say anything, you checked to see if he hung up on you, but he hadn’t. So, you brought the phone back to your ear, “You know what? Mom should’ve left you long before you walked out on us, you absolute fuck.”

You hung up on him.

Then you threw your phone onto your bed, startling Egg enough that she hissed at you. You couldn't even bring yourself to feel bad when you were so fucking PISSED. With an angry grunt, you flopped down onto your bed and let out a frustrated scream into it. Hoping that it muffled it enough that your skeletal roommates wouldn't hear and come see why you screamed. Your anger suddenly fell to absolute sadness, and you sobbed into your bed, not understand one bit _why_ you were crying instead of raging. Which just made you cry harder as your hormones grew more and more confused about what to do. You curled into a ball and Egg padded down the bed to nestle against your face. You completely ignored that her white fur was sticking to your tears and buried your face in closer to her. Her purrs were loud as she started to lick at your face.

A gentle knock on the door interrupted your confused thoughts, and you cried out a weak ‘what’?

Papyrus edged open the door, “Are You Okay?”

“Y-Y-Y-Yeah,” you sobbed out, curling tighter. He didn’t even hesitate before he stepped into your room, closed the door, and strode over to you.

“You Are Crying,” he said gently, sitting down beside you and resting a gloved hand on your arm. “I Heard You Scream?”

You hiccupped, and with a flash, your sadness was replaced with anger. Which just grew more because of the confusion about WHY YOUR FUCKING EMOTIONS WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE. (You knew your hormones were going wild and you would be so fucking happy when they were finished.) You sat up suddenly, startling Papyrus (and Egg again). “My father is being an absolute garbage human being about this whole pregnancy thing, and my hormones are going haywire, and I’m hungry, and I feel gross and tired after all the walking today, and I barely did anything, and it’s stupid and I just….why is my life such crap right now. Do we have anymore Oreos?”

Papyrus jumped up and hurried out of your room. You angrily wiped your face free of tears with the bottom hem of your shirt before Papyrus strode back in with the freshly bought bag of Oreos. You accepted them, shifting, so you were crosslegged and shoved one of the cookies into your mouth. Papyrus sat down on the bed with you, placing a hand gingerly on your knee.

“You Can Talk To Me About It, I Won’t Tell A SOUL,” he promised, giving you a kind smile.

So…you did.

You told him about your sister being pregnant, how that made you feel, about how your step-mother and father were treating _her_ pregnancy and how you had admitted to your father that you were pregnant. He had tried using the silent treatment bullshit that he always did when you told him something that upset him. As if you were going to just…apologize or fix everything yourself because of his disappointment. It was infuriating, really.

“Most of all? I’m worried that I’ll turn out like my father instead of my mother, and that scares me. What if I start acting like him? Distant? What if I accidentally make my kid feel like they’re not worth being called my child? What if I do something that makes my kid feel like they’re not…worth it?” your voice cracked at the end. You felt like shit. You probably looked like shit. Everything was shit. You wanted to kick and scream and throw a fit, but you knew that wouldn't help shit at all.

Papyrus listened quietly, rubbing your knee gently in encouragement. When you fell silent, he let the silence stretch on for a moment before he reached up and tilted your head up to look him in the eye. “YOUR FATHER ISN’T VERY FATHERLY IS HE? I CAN’T REMEMBER MINE AND SANS’ FATHER, BUT I KNOW SANS WAS A GREAT FATHER-FIGURE GROWING UP! HE CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT BEING A PARENT. BUT! I ALSO BELIEVE THAT EVEN WITHOUT SANS’ HELP OR ANYONE’S HELP, YOU CAN TOTALLY RAISE THE BABY BONES BY YOURSELF AND BE WAY BETTER THAN YOUR FATHER.”

Your eyebrows shot up, “Whoa…I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say something that…degrades someone?”

He paused, tilting his head, “I Am Sure That Your Father Can Be A Good Father And, If He Truly Wishes To Change, To Be A Better Father, I Believe He Could. However, You Are Severely Hurt By Your Fathers Actions. And I? Do Not? Get Him? Family Is Important To Me. Sans Is My Best Friend And Brother. He Raised Me Since I Was Young. I Couldn’t And Wouldn’t Understand If He Decided I Need To Earn His Love.”

Papyrus fell silent for a moment, “It’s Not That I Think Your Father Is Horrible. I Think He…Isn’t Giving His All To Being The Best He Can Be. He’s Not Trying To Be The Best Father You Deserve. I Think Everyone Can Be Great If They Try And I Am Willing To Give People More Chances Than Others. You Have Given Him The Chance To Repair Your Relationship With Him, And I’m Proud Of You For That. But Only You Get To Decide How Many Chances He Gets.”

You studied his face for a moment, seeing how genuine he was being in his gaze. If _any_one else had said that to you, you would’ve told them to shove it because they would just be saying it to try to get you to forgive your father and give him another chance. With Papyrus? He wasn’t trying to tell you that you _should_ forgive your father’s actions, he was telling you that he personally would, but he’s not you.

“I Support Your Decision Because You Know What Is Best For You,” he continued, squeezing your knee, then added, "If You Do Choose To Give Him Another Chance, Sans And I Can Talk To Him About Proper Parental Support And As We Both Know, I Am Great At Bringing Out The Best In People!"

“Thanks, Papyrus,” you murmured, placing your hand over his, “That means a lot to me.”

“BUT! AS FOR YOU THINKING YOU’D MESS UP PARENTHOOD? I HAVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE IF YOU WOULD LIKE IT?”

You nodded, “Sure, Paps.”

“OPEN COMMUNICATION! YOU DON’T KNOW IF YOU’RE UPSETTING YOUR CHILD UNLESS YOU ACTUALLY TALK TO THEM. SANS AND I TALK ALL THE TIME TO MAKE SURE WE’RE ON THE SAME PAGE. THAT’S HOW THIS HOUSE AND FAMILY WORKS SO WELL.”

Another nod, you and your mother were pretty open about your lives as it was just the two of you. You had no one else to talk to when something wasn’t going the way you wanted, so you would talk to her. All you had to do was remember your relationship with your mother…and ignore what you had with your father.

“You’re the best, Papyrus,” you said, and honestly meant it. He beamed.

“SO ARE YOU, ROOMMATE! NOW, WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ALONE OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO FINISH HELPING ME UNPACK THE GROCERIES?” he asked, standing up and holding a hand out to you.

“Oh! I totally forgot about that,” you apologized, taking his hand, allowing him to hoist you off the bed. “Sorry!”

“APOLOGY ACCEPTED! AFTERWARDS, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP ME WITH A PUZZLE? I BOUGHT A NEW ONE THE OTHER DAY, AND IT’S 5000 PIECES.”

Your eyebrows flew up, “5000?”

“YES! IT’S FIVE BY FOUR FEET WHEN COMPLETED. WE CAN SET IT UP IN MY ROOM, SO IT’S OUT OF THE WAY,” Papyrus explained as he led you from the bedroom, hand still holding yours.

In a manner of minutes, you had practically forgotten about your conversation with your father and the absolute shit show it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rework Papyrus' dialogue a lot because I initially had him being a lot...meaner about Reader's father and I was like whoa hey now, this isn't Edge talking here, it's Paps! He believes people can be better if they try! 
> 
> Still, I don't think Papyrus would ever force someone else to forgive someone who's hurt them, even if he personally would forgive them if they did the same to him. He's not naive, he's just kind and understanding and would try to help the person who hurt him become the best version of themself they could be so that they _wouldn't_ make the same mistakes and hurt him again.
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	16. Chapter 16

You closed the door and groaned softly under your breath. Work had been a nightmare today, and you were glad to be home. Well, you would be delighted to be back if you knew for a fact that your mind wasn’t just going to go straight to thinking about how fucked up everything was. You and your step-sister were pregnant with the same man’s child, and your father wanted your step-sister to marry your ex-boyfriend to not be a ‘slut’ and god….It was…exhausting being you right now.

You honestly hadn’t even thought about Blue or Red confessing their feelings to you since before your sister dropped the bombshell of her pregnancy on you. It was just…too complicated to think about dating anyone right now with everything going on. Not that you didn’t want to date them, but you just…couldn’t handle that much on your plate at the moment.

Though, you fully didn’t expect them to wait for you to get everything in your life sorted to the point where you felt like you could add a relationship to it.

You weren’t even thinking about the talk about a poly relationship you had with Red.

Not yet.

That would complicate things, even more, you think.

At the moment, you heard the bathtub calling your name. A nice soak would feel wonderful on your sore back and legs. You headed over to your bedroom to drop off your work things, grab some comfortable sweats and shirt, a towel before you headed into the bathroom. After selecting a bath bomb, you filled up the tub with nice warm water and tossed the little fizzy thing in to do its thing while you headed into the kitchen.

It was getting cold, and you had a craving for some sweet hot chocolate.

Humming, you searched through the cupboards, but…your search came up fruitless. You texted Blue asking if he’d pick up some hot chocolate mix when he was finished work as there was a grocery store right across the parking lot from his job. He replied with an ‘OF COURSE. ANY PREFERENCE ON THE TYPE?’ followed by a few cute and relevant emojis. You responded with your favourite kind of hot chocolate before begrudgingly turning to head back to the bathroom.

Well, you would’ve, but you spotted a particular skeleton outside on the back porch.

You hadn’t gotten anytime alone with Edge for the longest time, and you abandoned your bath to head out onto the porch to see him.

“Hey!” you called happily, “I didn’t know you were home!”

He jumped and immediately started attempting to cover up the blueprints of whatever he was working on, a red blush dusting his cheeks. “I WASN’T AWARE YOU WERE EITHER!” he blurted out, gathering the blueprints and started to roll them up, and you kept your gaze off of them. Whatever he was working on was embarrassing for…whatever reason.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” you quickly added, “Sorry, Edge.”

“IT’S FINE IF I HAD KNOWN ANYONE ELSE WAS HOME I WOULD’VE MOVED TO MY ROOM,” he said, but there was tenseness to his shoulders that made you frown. “I’LL GO THERE NO-“

“hey, bro, i got the dimensions for some cribs,” Red’s voice interrupted Edge as he poofed into existence in front of you. He tossed a piece of paper on the table and then saw the look of utter embarrassment on his brother’s face. “…papyrus?”

“Cribs?” you blurted out and immediately regretted it when you saw them both flinch and freeze. Sweat started to form on the back of Red’s skull, and the blush on Edge’s face just intensified as he glared at the table. You swallowed, “I…can leave, and pretend I didn’t hear that?” you offered, gesturing towards the door.

Edge jerked out of his embarrassment to look at you oddly before slowly smoothed out the blueprints. Then he stiffly patted the chair beside him. Red still didn’t move, and as you slowly passed him, you gave him a bit of a berth. You didn’t know what he was feeling, and you weren’t about to startle a tense skeleton no matter how much you trusted them not to freak out.

“I SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD KNOW…IT’S YOUR BABY BONES,” he said, voice sounding tense as he gestured to the blueprints. They were various different cribs with different sizes. You looked at him, hesitantly reaching towards the papers. He nodded, and you picked one up. “WHEN RE-…WHEN SANS WAS RAISING ME, WE DIDN’T HAVE THE LUXURY OF A CRIB…BUT…WE WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU WITH SOMETHING AS WE KNOW THAT…YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT MONEY WITH THE BABY BONES. BUT THE TYPICAL CRIBS ARE SO BORING! SO…SO…MASS PRODUCED! THEY’RE UGLY, CRUDE, AND RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL ONLY NEED FOR A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME!”

As he spoke, the embarrassed tenseness to his voice faded to its usual tone of confidence and sureness. However, you noticed that he kept glancing towards the backdoor, and his body was still tense.

Red started to fidget; the sweat on his head wasn’t slowing down either.

You blinked back the tears that were threatening to form…that was so sweet of them. Unexpected…but ridiculously sweet of them. You wiped at your eyes with your thumb before you shifted closer to Edge with your favourite design out of the cribs. After swallowing the thickness in your throat that threatened to make you either cry or your voice to break, you taped the plan, “Uh…I…like this one,” you whispered, not trusting your voice.

“ya do?” Red asked quietly, almost in surprise, “…woulda thought ya wouldn’ want us ta do this ta be honest…”

You looked up at him, before shaking your head, “I would never expect you guys to help out in any capacity…and…I wouldn’t want you guys to be put out either…but this is so…fucking nice?” you said, sniffling lightly and wiping at your eyes. “Sorry…” you apologized, covering your face briefly as you let out a weak sob. Fucking hormones.

Slowly, a hand rested on your shoulder before slipping around to pull you against a chest. You blinked in surprise to see Edge’s arms around you in a comforting hug…which just made you cry harder. Red’s hand reached over and stroked your head. “uh…why are ya crying?”

“Hormones,” you blubbered out, “This is just…I can’t believe? You two are the fucking sweetest…I…am so fucking lucky…”

Edge gave you a tender squeeze, and Red sat down on the chair beside yours, his hand picking up your own and squeezing it as well. You swallowed back the tears quickly and gently pulled back from Edge to wipe at your tears with your sleeve.

Edge cleared his throat and adjusted his shirt awkwardly before tapping the blueprint with one of his fingers. “THIS IS JUST IN its DRAFTING STAGE. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR THE FINAL DESIGN?”

You nodded, and you could feel the need to shift the mood from the tense one that it currently was. All three of you were way out of your comfort zone with your tears. You were proud of them both, however, for supporting you instead of hurriedly attempting to leave the room or fight whatever was making you upset. You knew if anyone else was there, they’d be gone, letting the others help with your tears instead.

They were slowly becoming comfortable with affection, and you were so proud of them for the smallest steps. Sure, they were leagues away from the other skeletons, but you couldn’t compare them anyways! The others grew up in an incredibly different environment than Edge and Red did, and even then, these two boys were doing their best to break out of the state of mind that their younger years had forced them into.

It was growth, and you were so happy for them.

Especially when you noticed that Edge’s arm was still around your shoulder, and Red was still holding your hand, his thumb rubbing over yours in a comforting motion, two years ago, they would’ve never been caught dead giving you any sort of affection even if they were alone, and there was no risk of anyone walking in because in their mind? There _could_ be someone watching or ready to take advantage of any sort of weakness.

Though, you would never point out their affection out loud…you could easily see them freaking out about that and running off.

You returned your attention to the task at hand. Edge was easy to understand. He was asking you for ideas, so he wanted you to critique the blueprint if he was asking what you thought that meant he wanted to be praised instead. Of course, if you really didn’t like it, you could be honest as he respected honesty over his feelings being coddled. So, after wiping at your eyes again, you tapped the blueprint near where the baby’s head would go.

“It looks great, but I think you should include a place to attach a mobile. I want to make one that has stars and moons on it. And, because you’re really great at figuring things out. Could you figure out a way to make the crib slowly be able to transform into a toddler bed? That way, when the baby grows out of the crib, they can still use it instead of having to go out and buy a toddler bed when they’re old enough?” you asked, using your hand to trace out what you were thinking vaguely.

Edge picked up his pencil, a grin on his face, “OF COURSE WE CAN FIGURE THAT OUT! THAT’S EASY! SOME SMALL ADJUSTMENTS ARE ALL THAT’S NEEDED.”

You watched as he quickly sketched out a rougher idea on a separate piece of paper and added notes. Red added an additional viewpoint about the technicalities, which spurred an argument between the two as they began to gesture more animatedly. The sweat over Red’s skull faded, and the tension slowly eased out of the two of them.

You relaxed against Edge’s side and shifted your grip so you could stroke over Red’s hand bones gently.

“wait, we can put jet packs on the feet of the-“

“NO!” Edge interrupted just as you added, “that’s very dangerous.”

“not for the baby-“

“THIS IS FOR THE BABY BONES, SANS! NOT FOR YOU, YOU LAZY BONES!” Edge smacked his hand down flat on the table, “WE ARE NOT PUTTING JETPACKS ON THE CRIB!”

You nodded, but you were a shit disturber, so you added, “but we could add them to the recliner in the living room!”

“DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM!” Edge ordered, making you giggle. “UNBELIEVABLE! IF YOU TWO WON’T TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY THEN, I WILL TAKE MY BLUEPRINTS AND GO WORK ON THEM BY MYSELF!”

“No! I’ll take it seriously,” you said, but you couldn’t help but laugh as he animatedly gathered up his blueprints and put elastic around them to secure it. “I swear!”

The back door opened, and Red’s hand fell from yours instantly as the three of you turned to see Stretch peering out, looking a bit…pale if that was even possible for a bone-white skeleton.

“the bathtub is full of red water,” he said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, “scared me outta my skin.”

“My bath!” you blurted out, scrambling to your feet, “The water is probably cold by now!”

You apologized to Red as you squeezed past him to dart into the house and over to the bathroom. You dipped a finger in, sighed, and turned on the water to the hottest setting and draining some of the water. Stretch peeked his head in as you moved to close the door; he lifted a bag up to you. You didn’t say anything as you accepted it and peeked inside. Oreos! Salty chips!

“I could kiss you,” you nearly wept, “Thank you, Stretch. You skeles are the best.”

An orange blush dusted his cheeks, “nyehehe…I keep eating them all on ya…so…uh…i’ll leave you to take a bath now.”

He quickly closed the door, and you pulled out the Oreos happily. It had been a couple of days since he’d promised you to pick some Oreos, but he hadn’t worked yet. You were just happy that he had remembered because you surely hadn’t remembered to stop by to pick any up.

They were Halloween ones with a discount sticker on the package.

All of the cookies had orange frosting. You giggled — what a dork.

You stripped and climbed into the bathtub with your Oreos, and set up your phone so you could watch your favourite show.

Today wasn’t as bad as you thought it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boysssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. I love them so much.
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or request stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	17. Chapter 17

_“….He did the mash; he did the monster mash_  
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash  
He did the mash; it caught on in a flas-“

You frowned as the song cut off as you closed the front door. What? No one was home? At least, no one should be home? You called out ‘I’m home’ and waited to see if any of the skeletons would pop into existence or call out a greeting in response. Yet, no one responded. You shrugged off your jacket and text Red asking him if he was home. He didn’t respond immediately, which meant that either he was home and was pranking you or he was at his job at the university and he couldn’t answer immediately.

For a moment, you just…didn’t move from the front door.

You texted Stretch and Sans, asking them the same question. Getting only mildly confused when Stretch wasn’t in your phone until you scrolled through and realized he must’ve changed it himself at one point.

**tallest skeleton 4:56 PM: **nope why what’s up

**tallest skeleton 4:56 PM: **are you bonely?

Sans didn’t respond, meaning that he was also probably either pranking you or was at the university.

You responded back to Stretch saying that there was music playing in the house, and it cut off when you closed the door. A few seconds later and Stretch appeared in front of you, making you let out a scream and through your cell at him. Thankfully, Stretch caught your phone with a strangled ‘hng’ noise in surprise.

“Shit, don’t! Do! That!” you gritted out, clutching your chest, “I’m just here worried that someone’s in our fucking house!”

“sorry, honey!” he apologized quickly, “shi-I wasn’t thinking?”

You exhaled heavily, trying to slow your heart. Stretch waited until you calmed down before he told you to wait while he checked the place out. He blipped out of existence for a while and then he walked down the stairs instead of just teleporting in front of you, thankfully. You were on edge as it was, you didn’t know if you could handle another startle.

“nobody’s here,” Stretch said, shrugging his shoulders, “which…is weird? you said you heard music?”

You nodded, and he scratched at his skull before shrugging again, “well i’ll wait around till edge gets home just in case.”

You sighed out in relief, but then looked up at him guiltily, “aren’t you working?”

“ah, don’t worry, hun, i haven’t taken my break yet. kelley knows,” Stretch reassured you before flopping down on the couch. “edge’ll be home in fifteen anyways.”

You walked over to the couch and squeezed his shoulder lightly, “Thanks, Paps.”

“nyehe…no problem, hun.”

You exchanged warm smiles before you headed over to your bedroom and opened the door.

_“Celebrate good times, come on!_  
It's a celebration  
Celebrate good times, come on!  
Let's celebrate!....”

You jumped, letting out a startled squeak and Stretch appeared beside you. The song continued for a bit longer before ending. Stretch stepped into the bedroom before closing the door on your face and reopening it. The song began to play again, and you stormed inside.

“nyehehe, good prank idea,” Stretch muttered, taking down a small speaker device from your door.

“Not good!” you retorted, “Scared the shit out of me!”

“true,” Stretch said, scratching his chin, “gotta have better finesse than this.”

You gave him a look, “Well if it’s just-“

_“….He did the mash, he did the monster mash_  
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash  
He did the mash, it caught on in a flas-“

“WHERE IS THAT OBNOXIOUS MUSIC COMING FROM?” Edge demanded loudly, slamming the door closed. Stretch handed you the small device.

“have fun,” he said with a wink before disappearing from the room. You glared at where he had been before you strode out of your room and into the living room. Edge was taking off his jacket, grumbling about the song when he gave you a displeased look.

“ARE YOU THE ONE PLAYING THAT AWFUL SONG?” Edge demanded, crossing his arms, “IT’S OFFENSIVE.”

You dropped the device on the coffee before pointing over his shoulder, “Looks like Red or Sans is playing a prank.”

Edge glanced behind him and saw the little device hooked up to the front door. With a snarl, he tore it down and clenched it in his fist. “WHAT A PATHETIC PRANK.”

“Scared the shit out of me,” you said, before explaining your predicament not twenty minutes earlier when you got home. Edge’s eyes narrowed before he strode over and deposited the device on the table alongside the other.

“THANKFULLY MY BROTHER AND SANS ARE TOO LAZY TO DO THIS ON A GRAND SCALE.”

If only that were true.

An hour later, the two devices were joined by at least ten more, and you were beginning to laugh at each new discovery. Especially when you were brushing Egg and Edge went to start making dinner only for him to start screaming in frustration as each cupboard he opened played a _different_ song. The best was when you went to the bathroom and lifted the toilet lid, and it played you a song. That had delighted you, honestly, and you weren’t expecting it. Every other door you opened was expected, but the toilet lid?

Wild.

“I’D BE PULLING MY HAIR OUT IF I HAD ANY!” Edge declared as he threw on another handful of devices onto the table, “SOMEONE IS GOING TO PAY!”

“Extra chores for the pranker?” you suggested, and his eyes narrowed.

“BECAUSE I CAN’T MAIM THEM, YES.”

“So, interrogate them when they get home?” you said, gently moving Egg from your lip into your arms so you could carry her after Edge into the kitchen. He glared half-heartedly at the cat but allowed you to stand on the other side of the island as he got to cooking.

“YES! MY MAIN QUESTION IS WHERE DID THEY GET SO MANY OF THOSE DEVICES?”

“I would’ve thought they were the little musical gift card inserts, but the sound is clearer,” you said, furrowing your brow in thought. You had already narrowed it down to Sans and Red. Stretch would’ve been more apologetic after figuring out that it had startled you bad enough that you thought someone was in the house while you were alone. Blue and Papyrus pulled pranks, yes, but their pranks were more…elaborate, and they typically spared you from their pranks. They typically went after their own brothers.

It was just narrowed down to who would’ve put enough effort into the prank. There was one on _every_ door. You had tested all of the skeleton's doors to see if you could figure it out, but all of their doors were rigged up to play different songs. You particularly liked Edge’s song the most.

The others quickly started appearing in the house, whether just popping into existence or by walking through the front door. You paid heavy attention as Blue and Papyrus walked in, but they didn’t seem disappointed that a song didn’t play when they entered. So that just reaffirmed that it wasn’t them.

However, all the skeletons did conjugate around the pile, either curious about what they were or merely hanging about because they could. Stretch snorted when he saw it.

“all the doors?” he asked, dropping down onto the couch next to you and throwing his arm around your shoulders. “that’s some dedication.”

You nodded in agreement and looked over at Red and Sans suspiciously.

“Now,” you spoke a bit louder and cut off Blue and Papyrus’ discussion about the devices, “I want to say first that I both want to kiss and smack whoever did this because Edge’s frustrated yelling for the past hour is amusing, but I am not impressed because it scared the hell out of me when I got home and heard music playing when I was home alone.”

Edge threw his hands in the air before pointing at you, ”THERE WILL BE NO SMOOCHING FOR WHOEVER DID THIS! THIS WAS A MENACE! THERE WILL BE A SEVERE PUNISHMENT!!!!”

“I did laugh when I lifted the toilet lid, and it played me a song,” you said, and Red snorted at that.

Edge interrupted whatever quip Red was about to say as he glared at you, “PUNISHMENT!”

“You didn’t take the one off your door, did you?” you teased, and he placed a hand over his chest in offense.

“WHAT! OF COURSE, I DID!” he snapped, glaring at the table menacingly.

“So, I won’t hear ‘Bad to the Bone’ when you go to bed tonight?” you teased, and he blushed and sputtered out denials. “Anyways!” you said, drawing the attention of the skeletons back to you. “Which one of you did this?”

Red and Sans looked at each other, and your gaze narrowed.

“wasn’ me,” Red shrugged, leaning back and linking his fingers behind his back. “too much effort.”

“IT WAS YOU!” Edge yelled, pointing a finger at Sans, who just gave him a shit-eating grin.

“yup,” he said, somehow being able to pop the ‘p’ without having lips.

Papyrus clapped his hands together, “SANS?! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! THIS WAS SO MUCH EFFORT! I MUST ADMIT THAT IT WAS VERY CLEVERLY DONE, BUT I MUST AGREE WITH OUR LOVELY ROOMMATE AND EDGE. YOU NEED A PUNISHMENT!”

It was quickly determined that Sans would be in charge of vacuuming for the next two weeks.

“that _sucks_,” was Sans’ cleverly simple response as he grinned.

Stretch seemed to be the only one truly irritated by the pranks and said something quietly to Sans, whose grin tightened slightly. You frowned, but when Sans responded back, they both seemed to relax. Stretch teleported over to stand beside his brother.

“hey…uh, sorry. didn’t mean to startle you with the music,” Sans said, pulling your attention away from Stretch and over to the shorter skeleton. He had moved to occupy the space that Stretch had left. You sighed, relaxing back into the couch.

“It’s fine, no harm, no foul,” you replied, waving a hand slightly, “Just…maybe hold off on the startling pranks? Pregnancy and surprises don’t really go hand in hand.”

He tensed beside you, “…sorry…”

You peered over at him, watching him shrink into his hoodie.

“Like I said, no harm, no foul,” you repeated, reaching over and patting his arm softly. “I got more amusement out of it than fright.”

The two of you fell into silence for a while before he leaned closer to you slightly, and jokingly said, “hey…uh, so don’t smack me, but can I get the smooch?”

Your eyes narrowed at him, waiting until you saw him get uncomfortable before you leaned over and smooched the side of his skull. “I expect all of them to be gone by morning.”

“U-uh y-y-yeah right away,” he stuttered out, his face a bright blue before he teleported away.

You smiled and stood up, “Sweet, now that that’s solved! Is dinner ready? I’m hungry.’


	18. Chapter 18

You stepped out of the shower and began to dry yourself off. It was one of those rare days where all the skeletons were off, so it was going to be a day of board games and laughter (with plenty of arguments). You felt yourself smiling at the thought. That was one thing you noticed you were doing more of lately. Smiling. Ever since Sans had hid all of the small devices to make doors play songs, you’d just been in a great mood. Which was strange considering your hormones were kicking it and you were supposed to start going through mood swings hardcore at this point.

Then again, not all pregnancies were the same.

You glanced over at the mirror briefly, eyes zeroing in on your stomach.

Oh.

You pulled up your pants and then twisted side to side, staring at your stomach.

You had a baby bump.

When did that happen?

It was still very small, barely noticeable when you wore your normal clothing and your work uniform. Yet, as you smoothed your hand over your stomach you felt that it was indeed harder than just chub. A spark of excitement darted through you, followed by one of fear. This was…really a thing, huh? There were still times when you were angry and frustrated when you remembered that you were indeed pregnant, but overall you still had a vague sense of denial. Now? Now there was no denying it.

You exhaled, running your hand over the small bump.

How could something so small change your life completely?

Well, it wasn’t the beans fault, you knew. You were more than happy to thrust all blame on Chad, however. You were going to figure out how to get as much child support out of him as you could, and get Anna to do the same. If he thought that he was just going to get away with being an utter piece of shit, he had another thing coming.

He was just lucky that you _were_ planning for the future, else you might’ve considered encouraging Red’s anger towards your ex a bit more…perhaps informed him where your ex worked. There was also someone else you might’ve phoned up, but those were all hypothetical’s. You couldn’t focus on what you _would’ve_ done if you weren’t pregnant.

Instead, you focused on the future.

You pulled on your shirt and left the bathroom. The guys were setting up their board game in the living room, but none of them really acknowledged that you left the bathroom. Once in your room you changed your shirt into a more form fitting one and then headed out into the living room. Blue was the first to spot you, and his face light up happily.

“JUST IN TIME!” he announced happily patting the couch beside him, “WE JUST FINISHED SETTING UP.”

“I got a baby bump,” you announced, well more like blurted out. The others looked at you with…just the smallest touch of confusion on their faces.

“THAT’S GREAT!” Papyrus chirped, grinning up at you.

“You don’t know what that is do you?” you asked, glancing around at the others.

“OF COURSE WE DO,” Edge scoffed, “EXPLAIN IT TO MY BROTHER, HOWEVER, BECAUSE HE DOESN’T.”

You patted your stomach, “It means I’m starting to show.”

“show?” Stretch asked, eyes dropping to your stomach. “…you…can see it?”

“No,” you said quickly, noticing that he looked a bit queasy, “Not like internally. Just,” you took his hand and placed it on your stomach. “See, a bump.”

The sucker that was in his mouth fell.

You released his hand, about to apologize, but his hand stayed where it was, very faintly shifting. “woah…”

“Not that you know what my stomach felt like normally,” you added with a soft laugh, “but it’s normally not that hard.”

At that Papyrus and Blue both wanted to feel, and you felt a bit silly letting them touch your itty-bitty baby bump. Still, it was only going to get bigger and you had a feeling that you’d be encouraging them to touch it a lot once the baby started kicking. Just to share in the excitement with someone. All of the skeletons seemed to be zeroed in on your stomach now, even if the others didn’t ask or move to touch your stomach.

“it’s cool that you’re getting excited about this,” Sans spoke up after Blue was finished feeling your baby bump. “it seems like you’re over the _bump_ in the road, so to speak.”

You snorted, “That was bad.”

“THEY ARE **ALL** BAD,” Papyrus added giving his brother a look, “REALLY BOTHER, AT LEAST REACH FOR YOUR PUNS A BIT MORE.”

Sans merely shrugged with a grin, “that sounds like a skele-**ton** of work.”

Stretch and Red snickered while the other three groaned at that.

“but seriously, glad everything’s mostly _smoothed_ out.”

You gave him a look but chose to ignore the weak pun, “Me too. I mean…for now, there’s a lot of shit I gotta deal with. But, at least I’ve got you guys.”

Their faces blushed, and a few looked away. For a moment, you wondered if you overstepped boundaries but before you could clarify if you did your phone started ringing a familiar ring tone. Stretch tensed a tiny bit, and you gave him a weak comforting look. It was Chara, and you knew that Stretch wasn’t the biggest fan of Frisk’s twin…for whatever reason.

“I’ll go and take this and come back to play the game, okay?” you said, mostly directing it towards Papyrus, Blue, and Edge as they were the ones who were always the most excited to play the game. They nodded with different levels of enthusiasm and you hurried towards you room, answering as you went.

The moment your door closed, Red turned towards Sans.

“ok, nuff of this bullshit. i’m telling her we’re SOULmates, i don’t give a crap about what you guys think,” Red snapped, gesturing towards the door. 

Before Sans could even give his two cents, everyone was quietly bickering about their own opinions. Blue agreed with Red, but more along the lines of telling you sooner rather than later. Stretch agreed with his brother, but erring more on the side of caution. Edge thought it was terrible idea to just outright tell you before anyone was dating you, which Sans agreed with but hadn’t voiced his opinion yet. Especially considering how Papyrus hadn’t given _his_ opinion, just watched everyone bicker.

Sans was actually quite surprised that Papyrus _hadn’t_ told you yet. He told Frisk, after all. That would be something he might need to talk to Paps about before too long. If they were going to make this work everyone needed to be on the same page, including his brother and him.

“look,” Sans spoke up finally, interrupting Red and Edge arguing about the pros and cons. It shut them all up instantly, as it always did. Sans seriously didn’t know why anyone listened to him, but he was glad they did. “we don’t know how she’s gunna react. might stress her out and make her freak out and bolt, and she’s under ‘nuff pressure as it is, yeah? so…until we know she’s alright with dating again how bout we keep the whole SOULmates thing under wraps. ‘sides it’s not guaranteed that she’ll want to date all of us or even any of us.”

“SHE’S NOT READY TO DATE ANYONE YET,” Blue piped up, placing his hands on his hips.

“HOW DO _YOU_ KNOW THAT?” Edge demanded, his arms crossing over his chest as he scowled at the smaller skeleton.

“I TOLD HER THAT I WANTED TO DATE HER, AND SHE SAID SHE WASN’T READY BUT I’D BE THE FIRST TO KNOW WHEN SHE WAS!” Blue said, almost smugly.

Red leaned back on the couch, tucking his hands behind his head and smirking, “yeah, she ain’t ready to date yet, but she did give me a smooch.”

Of course, he wasn’t going to tell them it was only on the cheek, because where was the fun in that?

“WHAT? WHEN?” Blue gasped, droping his arms to his side.

“i already said to much, blueberry, i’m not the type ta kiss and tell,” he joked, winking over at Blue.

That just launched into _another_ match of bickering that was starting to get on the loud side. Stretch finally groaned loudly, “ughhhh let’s just…not do this right now? just after new years we can all confess cus the gyftmas season is the worst for her stress, n’with the baby? i don’t think any of us are willing to risk stressin’ her out more than she will be, right?”

That made the group go quiet, and they all nodded solemnly.

“if one of us ends up dating her, _then_ they can tell her that _they_ are her SOULmate,” Sans added, “got it?”

He glared over at Red, who merely sighed heavily. “yeah, yeah, classic. i got it.”

The room fell quiet as they heard you laugh at something Chara said.

“I WANTED TO BE THE FIRST TO KISS HER,” Blue pouted slightly and then pointed a finger over at Red, “BUT I WILL BE THE FIRST TO TAKE HER ON A DATE!”

Red sniggered, “technically classic took her out on a date to stargaze a couple weeks ago.”

“it wasn’t a date,” Sans clarified quickly, and thankfully before anyone could question why he answered so fast, you opened your door calling a goodbye to Chara.

“Quick! Act Natural!” Papyrus urged.

You never got an answer as to why your skeletal roommates were posed dramatically, and why Sans and Stretch were both wearing fake glasses with noses and mustaches on them. Though, even as you forgot about the whole weird scene you walked into, you kept sneaking glances over at the two lazy skeletons who refused to remove the glasses. Red, somehow, eventually produced his own pair as well, and the three of them completely decimated their brothers.

Which just made their brothers demand a rematch but without the stupid glasses on.

You sat that one out, but were amused when the lazy brothers ended up losing. When asked why they were so good during the first game but awful during the second, Sans merely grinned and said, “dunno what you’re talking about we weren’t here for the first ones, you _mustache_ the other guys, but since nobody _nose_ them, we’ll never figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my internet has been spotty af so I waited until the small window of time it was working to get this into my drafts so I could post it today on time via my phone >.<
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or request stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	19. Chapter 19

The mall was done up with all of its holiday cheer. Gyftmas/Christmas decorations dominated, but you saw quite a few decorations for Hanukkah as well. There were already kids lined up to sit on the mall Santa’s knee as you and Papyrus walked past. That reminded you of the picture of both Sans and Papyrus sitting on the mall Santa’s knee that they had on display during Gyftmas the few times you went over to their place for their Gyftmas party.

Still, your chest felt heavy, as it always did around this time of year.

You just weren’t into all of this anymore.

However, Papyrus asked you to come, and you said yes, so you were trying to keep your downtrodden spirits to yourself. It wouldn’t be fair to him, after all. Even though you knew not much could bring his endless joy and excitement down.

It was by the third store the two of you entered that Papyrus turned towards you and placed his hand on your shoulder. “WHAT’S WRONG? YOU DON’T SEEM TO BE ENJOYING YOURSELF AS MUCH AS YOU NORMALLY DO (OR RATHER YOU AREN’T COMPLAINING ABOUT SHOPPING AS LOUD AS NORMAL!).”

“Ah…sorry, Paps, I’m just not…into it, I guess?” you muttered, giving him a strained, forced smile.

“WHY NOT?” he asked, genuinely curious, his hand squeezed your shoulder lightly. “Are Your Feet Hurting? I Heard That Happens During Pregnancies.”

His concern drew a genuine smile out of you as you shook your head, but it faltered slightly under his curious gaze. “Uh…my…my mom died around this time…so I’m always just…sad around the holidays.”

Papyrus’ face quickly softened, and he pulled you into a quick hug. When he pulled away, both hands rested on your shoulders. “Do You Want To Go Home?”

You shook your head immediately. “No…no, I’m fine. I mean, unless you don’t want to be shopping with a stick in the mud,” you attempted at humour, but it just fell flat as his face morphed to be unamused.

“YOU ARE NEVER A STICK IN THE MUD!” he declared, straightening up and giving your shoulders a gentle squeeze before letting you go. Instead of just letting you meander behind him in a melancholy mood, he picked your hand up and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. You moved your arm, so your arms were linked instead of you just holding on, and that got an almost blindingly bright smile from Papyrus. Considering his face lit up bright orange.

The two of you continued shopping, and you felt your previous mood slowly, slowly start to slip away. Especially once you began to hold up ridiculous gift ideas for the other skeletons to get his different reactions. When the two of you entered the party shop for some more decorations, you left his side temporarily, and when you returned, you held up a package towards Papyrus. He gave you a suspicious look but accepted it nonetheless.

“Do you think Red would like it?” you joked, grinning, and Papyrus face blushed.

“!!!!”

“Do you think it’ll fit him?” you added, feeling your grin widen more.

The blush on Papyrus’ face faded, “FIT HIM?”

“Yes!” you said, and then gave him a shit-eating grin, “Wait, Papyrus, were you imaging me-“

“I DO NOT THINK EDGE WOULD APPRECIATE YOU GIFTING HIS BROTHER CANDY LINGERIE,” Papyrus said quickly, shoving the package back into your hands, “BESIDES, STRETCH WOULD APPRECIATE IT MORE.”

You blinked, “Shit, you’re right.”

You tossed the candy bra and underwear into Papyrus basket, making him give you a withering look. “REALLY?”

“You can wear it if you want, or I can go grab more?” you teased, and he sighed loudly.

“I DO NOT WANT TO WEAR IT!”

“Are you sure,” you nudged him, “I think you’d look pretty…._sweet_!”

His eyes boggled, “NOOOOOOO!”

That had you giggling, but you looped your arm around his again. “I’m teasing, Paps, I’m sorry.”

Papyrus huffed but didn’t seem perturbed by your teasing in the slightest. After all, he lived with his ‘cousins.’ Bickering, teasing, and more made up the daily conversations. Still, you stopped teasing because you knew that there was a point you could easily cross by mistake, and you didn’t want to. The two of you collected a few more Gyftmas themed decorations before heading back into the throng of the shopping mall.

You hadn’t any idea what you wanted to get your roommates this year. You’d bought Gyftmas presents for Toriel, Frisk, and Chara already…but you didn’t usually get the skeletons anything unless you went to their Gyftmas party, and then it was always little things. This year your budget was a bit tighter, as you were putting more money into savings than usual for a just-in-case scenario, but you still could afford some gifts for them if you budgeted correctly.

“WE SHOULD START DECORATING FOR GYFTMAS SOON! IT’S GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN WITH YOU THIS YEAR!” Papyrus declared grinning down at you, interrupting your thoughts of gift ideas.

“Ah…yeah, sure,” you muttered, feeling your mood tip backwards again. You hadn’t decorated for Christmas for a long time.

“DO YOU NOT WANT TO?” Papyrus asked, frowning slightly.

“It’s not that…I just,” you sighed, fiddling with the bags in your hands. “I just…haven’t celebrated Gyftmas in a while…Chad wasn’t big into the whole holiday's thing, and it’s hard for me during this time to get the motivation to do my own decorating…so it’s just been hard.”

Papyrus’ face softened, and he took some of the bags you were carrying before slipping his hand into yours. You were slightly surprised by that but felt it anchor you more than anything, and so you gave it a thankful squeeze. His face blushed, and he quickly spoke, “THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT! YOU’VE GOT US NOW! WE ALWAYS DECORATE TOGETHER, ESPECIALLY THE TREE AS WE ALL WANT IT TO LOOK ITS BEST! PLUS! IF YOU START TO FEEL SAD, WE’LL BE THERE TO CHEER YOU UP! You Know You Can Talk To Us, Right?”

“Yeah, I do…but I dunno I just feel extra alone, and it’s nobody’s fault but…yknow,” you shrugged, avoiding his gaze. What was it with you and Papyrus having all these heart-to-hearts lately, first about your father being an ass and now about your lack of joy during the winter season. A depressing cocktail of seasonal depression and mourning.

“THEN I WILL HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO REAFFIRM THAT YOU AREN’T ALONE, BUT IN A WAY THAT DOES NOT DISCREDIT YOUR FEELINGS!” he announced with such determination it made you smile and look up at him.

“Thanks, Paps.”

“BUT KNOW THAT EVEN IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE ALL ALONE, THAT YOU AREN’T. I AM ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU, AS YOUR BEST FRIEND.”

“Of course,” you replied with a soft smile, “The bestest friend.”

He smiled and led you around the store, getting your opinion on different gifts for the others. He was very attentive and had ideas upon ideas about what to get the others. Some of the gifts were a bit out there, and you weren’t sure if the others would like them, but you knew Papyrus wouldn’t suggest a gift that he didn’t think someone would like. It just wasn’t him. It didn’t help you get a few ideas, however, when he decided against something because it wasn’t ‘THE ABSOLUTE BEST GIFT AND MY FRIENDS DESERVE THE BEST. THOUGH IF I CAN’T FIND ANYTHING BETTER, THIS WILL DO.’

Eventually, the two of you were practically covered in bags, and you were wondering whether or not you’d have to make a trip back home before heading back out to finish up his shopping. Your feet were beginning to hurt, which was just souring your mood again. Oh, right, another ingredient to your depressing cocktail was your hormones all out of whack. Your mood plummeted once again.

You hated feeling this way around Papyrus. It wasn’t fair to him.

The two of you made one last pit stop on your way back home from the mall, stopping at a large craft store. He got a cart, and you were thankful to be able to lean against it to take some of the stress off your feet. The cart steadily got more and more full with the combination of gifts and materials. The skeletons apparently liked to create their decorations for Gyftmas because anything made by their hands would just be that much more awesome.

You stopped by some shiny star and moon paper cut-outs, and you reached out and lifted one up slightly to turn it side to side. Papyrus realized that you had ceased following him and doubled back to see what you were doing. “ARE YOU PLANNING ON MAKING SOMETHING TOO?” he asked, excitement barely contained in his voice.

“Ah…” you paused, peering over at him, “I was thinking about getting these for a little mobile for above the crib. They’re shiny, so they’ll draw the baby's attention. It’d be cute…plus, you guys all like the stars, right? Oh…maybe I’ll paint my ceiling to be a starry night sky as well? Do you think Sans would let me do that?” you asked, looking over at him with a hopeful smile. When he didn’t respond, your smile faded a bit, and you reached over to touch his arm lightly.

“Papyrus?”

“I CAN’T NOT SAY ANYTHING ANYMORE. YOU MAKE MY SOUL HAPPY WHEN YOU ARE AROUND, AND HAVE SINCE THE MOMENT I MET YOU!" He blurted out, face brilliantly blushing bright orange. “EVERY MOMENT WITH YOU IS ONE THAT I CHERISH, AND I WANT NOTHING MORE TO MAKE YOU AS HAPPY AS YOU MAKE ME.”

That was incredibly sweet and unexpected. You felt your face heat up, considering the loudness of his confession. Wait, was he actually confessing or were you simply thinking he was because both Blue _and_ Red had admitted their feelings to you? You found yourself staring up at him with your mouth slack. His blush grew more intense if that was possible before you finally realized he was waiting for you to say something.

“That’s! Very…sweet,” you said, your face blushing madly. “You make me happy, too, Paps.”

That drew the brightest smile ever from him before Papyrus grabbed a handful of the stars, moon, and suns and placed them into the cart. “SANS WOULD NEVER SAY NO TO YOU! I’LL EVEN HELP YOU PAINT THE CEILING!”

You were almost relieved that he didn’t comment immediately on your response, and so when you smiled, it was soft, “Thanks.”

The two of you continued onwards, and you felt your face cool down. Maybe he was just telling you that he liked spending time with you and that he was happy? He never said anything about wanting to be with you or anything of that manner.

This was confusing.

There was a teeny voice in the back of your mind that whispered, ‘_you want him to like you like that.’_

Which! Was crazy!! You already had two skeletons who openly admitted their feelings for you! Who you had feelings for! Not that you were ready to admit that yet…especially this month, but still! Why did you want him to like you so bad?

There was a tiny pressure in your chest that you ignored, it was probably just some stupid acid reflux as that had been a thing lately.

Papyrus said nothing more on the subject as you finished shopping and checked out. However, as soon as you both were in the car, he blurted out, “WOULD YOU WANT TO GO ON A DATE? I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST TIME, SO MY FEELINGS WOULDN’T BE HURT IF YOU SAID NO.”

You froze slightly as you went to buckle your seat belt, “uh…well…I’m not ready to date yet…and Blue and Red both said that they wanna date me so…it’s complicated?”

“COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE! I KNOW ABOUT BLUE AND RED’S WISH TO DATE YOU AS WELL!”

You paused and looked over at him with slight suspicion. You could understand him knowing about Blue wanting to date you…but Red? You couldn’t imagine Red outwardly admitting affection for you to someone else before admitting it to you. He kept his feelings close to himself, and he wasn’t the kind of person to _show _affection. Sure, Red would put his arm around your shoulders, or pull you into a side hug, but it was always done with a sexual pick-up line or pun.

Not exactly ‘I want to date you’ but more ‘I wanna smash.’

He adds, “THEY BOTH INFORMED US. WE SKELETONS ARE VERY OPEN ABOUT OUR FEELINGS. USUALLY.”

That spiked your suspicion, “Who is us?”

Did _every_ one of your roommates know that Red and Blue were interested in you? Were they gossiping about you behind your back?

“YES. US. NOW, YOU ASKED ME TO TAKE YOU GYFTMAS SHOPPING, BUT YOU HAVEN’T PICKED ANYTHING OUT YET! DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO GET EVERYONE?” he asked, eyes shifting side to side, completely avoiding looking at you. You opened your mouth before shutting it with an audible click.

Okay…so maybe you were just suspicious for no reason. It would make sense that Blue would inform the others of his desire to date you, and Red might’ve said something that would’ve alluded to him also wanting to date you. They all lived together, and you _were_ their roommate. It was probably best for them to talk about things like that just to avoid making things awkward later down the road.

It did also remind you that Red said he was cool if you wanted to date Blue _and _him.

Which, honestly, probably meant that they’d talked about that as well.

You made a mental note to talk to Red further about that later, alone. Right now, you didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, so you shook your head at Papyrus. “I got a few ideas on what to get, but my legs are getting sore, so I just want to go home and take a bath. Plus! With how much you bought today, I think my trunk will explode if we tried to buy anything else.”

Papyrus’s face dusted slightly orange as you mentioned ‘home,’ but he didn’t comment on that. Instead, he nodded, “YOUR COMFORT IS MY NUMBER ONE PRIORITY! DO YOU WANT ME TO DRIVE IF YOUR LEGS ARE SORE?”

You paused, looking down at the wheel before shaking your head, “I’m good. Plus, then I’d have to readjust everything when I go to work tomorrow.”

Papyrus nodded and launched into discussing all the decoration ideas he had for the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to be as vague as possible to what human holiday reader celebrates with her family, because again, she's a reader-insert. Please forgive me if I accidentally made it too Christmas-y as that's what I celebrate!
> 
> [My Tumblr if you guys wanna chat or request stuff <3](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a heads up this chapter starts off a bit heavier as it's a depressive 'episode' (not a suicidal depression but still depression nonetheless.)

It felt like you were slowly suffocating.

Your roommates noticed well before you did…but you brushed off their concern with ‘Oh it’s nothing, just stressed I’ve got this’ and a well-placed smile. Only Stretch didn’t seem convinced, but he didn’t pressure you into telling him what was wrong, just quietly said to you that you could always come to him to talk.

The worry was just…getting to you. It was making you feel guilty. Because they  _ shouldn’t  _ be worried. You had this. You could survive through the worst pains in the world. You’d been doing it for years now. You were  _ strong _ . 

You swallowed thickly, staring down at the snow-covered grave.

You didn’t want to be strong. 

The end of the year was always painful for you. Each commercial or ad about getting together with your family drove a knife through your heart, a sharp red hot feeling that left you almost breathless. Each time you heard your co-workers talking about going to their parents for the holidays made you feel a spike of jealousy. 

With a gloved hand, you brushed off the snow-covered headstone. Each movement felt like it took all your energy out. You replaced the fake flowers you had tucked into the small bouquet holder attached to the gravestone with new ones for the holidays. 

Was it just the ice-cold air making your chest feel tight and breathless?

…you knew it wasn’t, but you could pretend. You pretended that the emptiness in your chest could be blamed on the icy air that filled your lungs. Anything to just pretend to be alright. Even if your therapist had told you to stop trying to bottle up your feelings like this, stop pretending that you’re alright because it’s alright to not be alright. 

A tear slid down your cheek, eyelashes quickly freezing in the cold air. 

Your hand moved to touch the small bulge on your stomach. 

Your father had called you earlier that day to tell you that you  _ weren’t _ invited for the holidays this year, but totally not because you were pregnant out of wedlock. No, it was because he and his wife were going overseas for the holidays. Another tear slid down your cheek. Your roommates hadn’t really mentioned their plans for Gyftmas, but you assumed they’d be going to spend it with their friends. Sans and Papyrus would probably go over to Toriel’s, Red and Edge would probably spend it with Frisk so they’d go to Toriel’s as well, Stretch and Blue would go to their Asgore’s place.

Maybe…maybe you’d go to Grillby’s? If he was even open on Gyftmas…

More tears slipped from your face.

You felt so lost all the time now.

“I miss you,” you whispered to your mother, fingers brushing her name on the headstone. 

You stood in silence for a while until your eyelashes started sticking together, and only then did you head back to your car. Even as you warmed up, you still felt numb and driving back to the house was done in silence. You couldn’t stand to listen to the jingly upbeat music that would be on the radio.

When you got back home, you pulled into your spot in the driveway as Sans still hadn’t given you a garage door opener, and climbed out. Papyrus and Stretch were outside putting up the Gyftmas lights around the porch, or well, Papyrus was putting up the lights. Stretch was standing there watching and providing colour commentary. They both greeted you warmly, with Stretch saying that you better get inside because of the chill.

You offered a fairly weak smile, and Stretch’s face shifted to mild concern, but you slipped quietly into the house.

The house was warm and full of sound. Blue and Edge were in the kitchen, and you could hear their loud voices arguing with each other over what to make for dinner and arguing who should make it. Neither was winning from the sounds of it, and you could see Blue gesturing wildly as you slowly peeled off your winter gear and hung them up.

Red peered over the back of the couch, Egg was curled up around his neck (a feat you’d been surprised to see the first time as Egg had never been a shoulder cat with you). “hey, sweetheart,” he greeted with a wink. Sans waved lazily at you, greeting you as well. After you greeted them in return, they returned back to their quiet debate about something that from the sounds of it related to their joint-job at the University.

Before you could escape to the quiet sanctity of your room, Papyrus and Stretch came back into the house, shucking their own winter gear off.

“WE’RE GOING TO BE SETTING UP THE GYFTMAS TREE LATER TONIGHT,” Papyrus announced, grinning down at you, “YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN!”

“Alright,” you said, forcing a small smile onto your face.

A look passed between the skeletons in the living room, but you ignored it. Instead, you gently picked Egg up from Red’s shoulder and shuffled over to your room. Closing and locking the door behind you. The rest of the day was spent with you cuddling Egg until she wanted out of your room, and then you left the door cracked open if she wanted to come back in. When dinner came, you almost decided to skip it but knew that would just cause more problems, so you headed out to eat dinner with the others.

They acted the same as usual…but they did throw a few concerned looks your way, especially when someone made a joke, and you didn’t laugh, snort, or roll your eyes.

You just…weren’t feeling it.

Empty.

You shuffled back into your room after tidying the kitchen up a bit and locked yourself away again.

Dark thoughts drifted through your mind as you laid on your bed.

Every nasty thought you had towards yourself sprung up and just made you feel heavier and heavier. 

Papyrus knocked on your door, who knows how long after dinner, “WE’RE SETTING UP THE TREE NOW IF YOU’D LIKE TO JOIN US!”

“Ok,” you called, not sure if he could hear you but a few moments later he walked away. You didn’t move from your bed.

They were giving you space you realized then. It wasn’t like when you were living with Chad, who constantly tried to get you to leave your room and force you to do something. He didn’t like decorating either, so there was never any reason to be festive. There was no reason to feel joy or smile or laugh. He treated your depression when it got like this as if you were being difficult for the sake of being difficult.

Hell, the boys were even keeping their volumes down as best as they could.

They weren’t making you feel like you weren’t allowed to be upset, they were giving you space because they knew you wanted it.

Slowly you sat up, hearing a quiet ripple of laughter from the living room.

This…this year was going to be different.

You wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and shuffled out into the living room. Papyrus  _ beamed  _ over at you as you shuffled towards the couches, and Stretch lifted a mug from the table and handed it to you. It was full of your favourite hot drink and was still toasty beneath your fingers. You plopped down onto the couch beside Red, who put his arm around your shoulders immediately. As you sank back into the couch, Red cuddled you a bit closer giving your arm a gentle squeeze. A few seconds later, Blue gave Stretch a shove for a comment that you didn’t catch. It clearly wasn’t enough to actually push him over. Still, he dramatically said ‘oh no i’m falling’ before plopping his head into your lap and pretending to snore loudly.

You patted the side of his head, which turned into you absentmindedly drawing small circles against his skull as you watched the more active skeletons flit about the tree hanging up anything from traditional bulb ornaments to cute character ornaments, to a few ones shaped like bones. 

“I KNOW THAT HUMANS HAVE A HOLIDAY LIKE THIS….CHRISTMAS…RIGHT?” Blue spoke up, glancing over at you, “IS IT ANY DIFFERENT?”

“Uh…sort of,” you said with a shrug, “Pretty much the same, I think, though. Some people are super religious about it and go to church, and stuff and other people aren’t.”

“DO YOU CELEBRATE IT?”

You told him how you celebrated the holidays, or rather how you spent it while you lived with your mother. You didn’t really feel like getting into how you celebrated it while living with Chad. While you spoke, you found yourself drawing little stars into Stretch’s skull.

“OH…” Blue trailed off for a moment, then he looked back over at you. “WELL! HOW DID YOU DECORATE FOR THE HOLIDAYS? THIS IS YOUR HOUSE TOO, AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU FEEL AT HOME!”

You paused, glancing around, the other skeletons gave small nods in agreement, and you smiled faintly. You explained how you used to celebrate the holidays with your mother, back when she was alive. Explained the traditions behind your decorating and celebrations. Though you added on what you did when you lived with Frisk as well, “With Frisk a couple of times, we’d get drunk, and they’d teach me Christmas carols that they’d changed to work better with Gyftmas. Like…’ White Gyftmas’ or ‘O Snowy Night,’ which I can’t remember all the lyrics too, but they made it about Sans and Papyrus.”

“what’s a carol?” Sans asked as he wrapped a garland around his neck like a scarf.

“A song about Christmas and religion and stuff, basically, you hear them a lot on the radio or when you’re shopping,” you shrugged a shoulder. Honestly, even if someone didn’t celebrate Christmas, most would know at least one Christmas carol. A co-worker once told you that they don’t celebrate Christmas. Still, they knew all the Christmas songs because they worked in retail for a couple of years, and when the same songs played on loop, it kinda got ingrained in your head. 

“OH! OH! OH!” Papyrus said excitedly, “CAN YOU TEACH US ONE?”

You blinked in surprise, wracking your brain for a carol you remembered well enough to teach them. However, you then remembered something solely because of the internet, and you pulled out your phone. Typed in ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ then played the song.

“It’s not really a carol, but it’s one of those songs you hear like all the time,” you amended as they listened to it quietly.

Stretch pointed to the phone at about 30 seconds in, “that’s in a vine.”

You actually huffed out a small laugh, “Which one?”

“there’s more than one?” he asked, and suddenly all the lazy skeletons were crowding you as it quickly dissolved into a vine-watching marathon in basically a cuddle puddle. Sans and Red ended up beside you, with Stretch draped over your laps. The others watched you with good-natured amusement and aggravation that their lazy brothers were extra lazy when it came to decorating.

Of course, it didn’t stop there as Red quickly found some x-rated Christmas songs that received mixed reviews amongst the skeletons. An x-rated Jingle Bell Rock song was immediately squashed by Edge, who just shouted ‘NO’ and nearly skewered the living room speaker system with a bone. If it wasn’t for your quick movement to pause the video, your own face bright red. 

You honestly probably hindered the skeletons decorating the tree more than you helped, considering you were cuddled by lazy skeletons who refused to get up to help out. Though, you knew the lot of them well enough by now to know that Blue, Edge, and Papyrus weren’t upset at all by the development. They were probably already used to their brothers doing the bare minimum, though with plenty of encouragement in the way of ‘you’re so cool’ and ‘I totally agree, the tree needs more black, red, and spikes.’ 

Edge pulled out a card game once the tree was set up, and everyone settled in to play. Stretch didn’t move to sit somwhere else, actually shifting to just sit on your lap to play, which meant you had to lean around his lanky-ass to actually play the game. Though you found yourself not minding in the slightest. It was…grounding in a way to have such casual affection.

“Is Grillby going to be open on Gyftmas?” you asked halfway through the game, swatting lightly at Stretch as he tried to peak at your cards.

“nope, he’s gunna be here for the gyftmas party,” Sans spoke up, lazily playing a card to which Edge cursed. “why?”

You hesitated a bit, “I don’t want to be in your guys’ hair…er…metaphoric hair, on Gyftmas, and my dad and his wife are going overseas, so I’m trying to figure out what to do on Gyftmas.”

They were all silent, and then Edge slammed a hand down on the coffee table, startling you. “YOU WILL  ** NOT ** BE GOING TO GRILLBY’S BECAUSE YOU WILL BE SPENDING THE DAY WITH US!”

“What?” you blurted out, honestly shocked, “I-I thought you guys would want to spend it with your…yknow…family and not…with me in the way.”

“IN THE WAY?” Blue said, looking honestly shocked. “YOU ARE NEVER IN THE WAY!”

“PLUS YOU ARE AN HONORARY SKELETON!” Papyrus informed you with a wide grin.

“we didn’t think that you weren’t gunna be here, honey,” Stretch added, looking down at you, “kinda planned the day with you included in those plans.”

“Oh,” you muttered, cheeks heating in embarrassment.

“oh…right, was going to ask you if you’d be cool with us throwing the gyftmas party here this year,” Sans spoke up, then looking a touch guilty, “kept…forgetting.”

“SANS!” Papyrus placed his hands on his hips, “YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ASK TWO WEEKS AGO!”

“whoops,” Sans said with a shrug. “mind if we hold a shindig? it’s gunna be friends n’family only.”

“Yeah! I’ d… I’d like that,” you quickly said before Papyrus could lay into his brother about responsibility and other life lessons. “I think… I’d really like that.”

“sweet,” Sans replied easily, giving you a warm look before he patted your shoulder. “and…kid, don’t ever think that we don’t want you here. cus we do. holidays included.”

A soft smile stretched over your face, and you nodded your head. Tears threatened to pour, but you didn’t let them. Instead, you put down a card and grinned up at Stretch. He stared at the card for a second before looking at his own cards and then gave you a half-hearted glare as he started to pick up card after card after card until he found something that he could play.

Pity that he had been down to two cards.

For the first time since your mother’s death…you were looking forward to the holidays…even just a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the holiday's are coming up real fast. Too fast.
> 
> I know this time is really hard for a lot of people, because you may have to deal with family who you don't have the healthiest relationship with, or you've lost someone and holidays are especially hard, or you might have seasonal depression and winter is just harder for you all around. Depression is hard and it really, really just fucking **sucks**. 
> 
> I just want you to know that it is totally valid if you don't want to be with your family because they're toxic, and you don't owe them anything just because they are your blood relatives. If you lost someone, I'm so sorry. Holiday's are so tough without someone you care about being there with you. My family lights a candle to remember those who have died in our lives, maybe you can find a way to honour your loved one. As for seasonal depression, it's generally caused by the lack of sunlight and staying indoors more often, so you need the boost of Vitamin D so open those windows, take your vitamins, and if you can spend time around others who love and cherish you.
> 
> But, you've got this, and if you think that you don't? That's okay. You are going to be okay. 
> 
> If you need to talk to anyone, here's a list of suicide hotlines you can call, text, ect. Canada and America have a specifically transgender hotline, and America and South Africa have LGBTQ+ hotlines. 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines
> 
> I love you guys. Happy Holidays to those who celebrate them, and happy end of the year to those who don't.
> 
> I don't have 20-20 vision so I don't know what's going to happen next year, but I hope it's a good one for all of you <3.


	21. Chapter 21

You woke up to the gentle knocking on your door. With a groan, you rolled over and pulled your pillows closer to your face and then slowly cracked your eyes open to look over at your door. Another soft knock and you grunted. Frisk, surprisingly, was the one to open the door, they grinned at you.

“Merry Gyftmas,” they called out softly.

You hummed quietly, burying your face into your pillow. They laughed and then two seconds later, they landed heavily beside you on the bed. When you cracked your eyes open again, you saw that they were still wearing their pyjamas. You mumbled something you hoped sounded like ‘Merry Gyftmas’ before rolling away from them and checking the time. Four am.

“What the hell?” you groaned, propping yourself up to look at them, “It’s four, what are you doing here?”

“We always start Gyftmas early,” they responded simply, tucking their arms beneath their head. “Papyrus, Edge, and Blue are already awake.”

“What about the others?” you asked, slowly sitting up and rubbing at your eyes.

“Still sleeping but not for long,” Frisk said, in a way that sounded very evil. You raised an eyebrow at them, but they just grinned at you and shrugged. “You wanna go wake up Red?”

The idea of waking up Red, who on multiple occasions in the past had commented on how he wasn’t a Gyftmas person, nor a morning person, wasn’t a pleasant thought.

Still, you knew that he’d probably react the best to you, so you climbed out of bed and shooed Frisk from the room. They moved sluggishly but left, telling you that they’d let the others know that you were awake.

You put on a bra, pulled on your softest, comfiest sweater, and then shuffled out of your room.

Toriel greeted you quietly but warmly as you shuffled past the living room. You returned it to the best of your ability before heading down the stairs. Your steps a little heavier than normal because it was four still.

Hopefully, Red got enough sleep last night, and you weren’t about to wake him up after he just fell asleep.

You’d totally understand if he bit your head off.

Still, you knocked on the door a few times before slowly cracking it open and calling out softly to him. When he didn’t respond, you tried a bit louder, which got a grunt of acknowledgement and the slightest of shifts. You pushed the door open a bit more, calling his name again.

For a second, you saw his eye lights appear before he rolled over and grumbled, “s’too fuckin’ early.”

“I know,” you responded softly, “Sans and Stretch are being woken up too right now.”

He didn’t respond, but almost comical snoring filled the bedroom, making you huff out a laugh — what a doof. You padded across his room now that you knew he knew you were there and gently touched his shoulder, giving him a little shake. “Merry Gyftmas, Red.”

His arm shot out, and before you knew what was happening, you were being yanked down onto the bed and promptly cuddled. A squeak left your mouth, but Red ignored it and merely yanked his blankets up over you. “shh…s’time ta sleep.”

“No, it’s time to go open gifts and eat some breakfast,” you retorted, but he started to rub your arm gently, and that combined with the warmth of his bed and the surprisingly comforting scent of his bedroom. You…fell asleep.

You woke up when the door opened, “SANS! YOU LAZY BONES, GET OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW. STRETCH AND SANS ARE ALREADY UPSTAIRS AND-“ Edge cut himself off as you groggily shifted and settled. “YOUR LAZINESS IS AFFECTING THE HUMAN TOO!”

“S’too early,” you and Red both mumbled, and you let out a sleepy giggle.

Edge didn’t immediately respond, and you were almost asleep again when Red was lifted from the bed beside you. You heard the comical fake snores start up again as Red went absolutely dead-limp in his brother's arms, who just rolled his eye lights and then reached down with his free arm and _scooped_ you out of bed as well.

“AS…ADORABLE AS YOU LOOK, IT’S GYFTMAS, AND WE WON’T BE DELAYED BECAUSE OF YOU TWO!” Edge barked as he turned and headed towards the door to Red’s room. You almost had half the mind to just…let Edge carry you. But, you did have some dignity.

“I can walk,” you said, biting back a yawn. Edge looked like he didn’t want to put you down, but with a slight grimace, he did. “Merry Gyftmas, Edge.”

“MERRY GYFTMAS, HUMAN,” he replied, an almost warmth to his tone as he guided you towards the stairs. Just before he actually put a foot down on the steps, Red teleported clean out of his hands, and you heard Frisk call out to him cheerfully. A small smile stretched over your lips before a yawned forced its way through.

Ah, it was too early still.

You had half the mind just to turn around and go curl up back in Red’s bed, where it was warm.

If there weren’t people waiting for you and Edge, you totally would’ve.

As it was, you headed up the steps after Edge.

The ceiling lights weren’t on in the living room, just the tree lights and the one lamp situated off to the side, giving it a warm glow. All the skeletons were, surprisingly, all in their pyjamas. Toriel and Frisk were wearing a matching pyjama set as they typically did for Gyftmas. You gave them both a sleepy smile before settling yourself beside Blue and Sans on the couch. Sans immediately slumped against you, and while Red had been fake snoring, you swore that Sans was _actually_ snoring against you.

You merely leaned your head against his skull and then started to feel your eyes droop ever so slowly shut.

Blue’s fingers intertwined with yours, and you sleepily hummed, squeezing his fingers slightly.

“NOW THAT WE’RE ALL AWAKE WE CAN BEGIN WITH THE GIFTS!” Papyrus announced, his voice ever so slightly quieter than normal. You wondered if he felt the absolutely sleepy mood everyone was in. He seemed chipper and happy, and you could’ve sworn his eye lights twinkled with happiness as his gaze swept over you and Sans leaning against each other.

Papyrus and Toriel handed out presents to the group, announcing who it was for and who it was from.

One of your first gifts was from Frisk. They gave you finger guns as you accepted the present from Toriel. You eyed them suspiciously before tearing the wrapping paper off the gift. It was a pair of those fancy bone-conducting earphones. You ooo’d at them and quickly took them out of the box. Blue peered over curiously, and then you saw his smile lessen but more out of confusion than anything.

“BONE-CONDUCTING?” he asked, “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?”

That got the interest of all the skeletons. Frisk quietly explained as you synced the headset to your phone, and then tested it out quickly.

It was so weird but cool! Perfect for when you went jogging so you could hear what was happening around you but still be able to listen to music.

“so…it rattles your bones?” Red asked, looking even more confused by Frisk’s explanation.

You paused the music, took the earphones off and leaned across Sans to place them on Red’s head.

When you pushed play, instead of him quietly hearing the music, it…amplified it instead.

Frisk and you stared at Red, before glancing at each other. Then you slowly reached over and pulled them off Red’s head again, he stared at you in confusion. “ya said it was only supposed’a be heard by t’person wearin’ em?”

You put them on Sans instead, and the music played as if coming out of a low-quality speaker once again.

“This is like Lilo and Stitch,” you muttered, “Sans, open your mouth?”

Sans gave you a strange look but parted his teeth, and the sound came out even clearer.

“Oh my god,” Frisk whispered, “That’s amazing.”

“Good thing I didn’t decide to buy Blue these after all,” you joked, accepting them back from Sans. Blue laughed, shaking his head.

“I DON’T THINK PEOPLE WOULD BE PLEASED HEARING A JOGGING SPEAKER AT FIVE AM EVERY MORNING,” he agreed, nudging you gently. You agreed tucking the earphones back into the box temporarily. The attention shifted away from your gift and back onto their own gifts as they carried on with the gift-giving.

Every time you heard your name called out as the ‘from’ you paused in unwrapping your gift to watch a touch nervously as the chosen recipient opened their gifts. You were always sure in what you got Toriel and Frisk, as you had known them for a while and had been getting them Gyftmas presents for quite a long time now. As for the skeletons, you knew their interests, but you were still worried that they wouldn’t like what you got them.

Sans opened his gift from you first. You’d gotten him a book on constellations with information on where, when, and how to find them in the sky. It contained a bunch of other star-gazing facts and tidbits as well, and you watched as he thumbed through the pages before pausing as two small slips of paper slid out from the front page. You’d also made him two fake tickets to the planetarium, with the words ‘redeemable at any time’ written on them. You saw his eye lights go fuzzy for a moment before he carefully tucked the tickets back into the front of the book and then met your gaze.

“this is awesome, thanks, kid,” he said, voice warm and eyes going fuzzy again as he smiled at you.

Papyrus opened his present and gasped. “IT’S A BEE BOX!” he declared happily, holding it up to show his brother. “MY DREAM OF HAVING A BEE FRIENDLY GARDEN IS BECOMING A REALITY!”

“don’t you mean-“

“DON’T YOU RUIN THIS MOMENT WITH YOUR PUNS, BROTHER,” Papyrus said, lowering the bee box slightly, eyes narrowing. Sans merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders. The younger of the two brothers turned towards you, a large smile on his face. “THANK YOU!”

“I remembered you were worrying about bee populations a couple of months back,” you said with a smile, “I also got you something else that hopefully will tide you over until you can put that in the backyard.”

“YOU DIDN’T NEED TO GET ME TWO THINGS!” Papyrus said as he pulled out a huge book of word scrambles and word find games of varying styles and complexities. He gasped happily, before getting to his feet and leaning over Blue in order to give you a hug. You returned it happily.

Blue opened his present from you nearly at the same time as Papyrus. It was a DIY tortilla-making kit and recipe. He gasped. “I NEVER THOUGHT TO MAKE THE TORTILLA’S MYSELF,” he admitted, eyes shifting to stars briefly. “I CAN…I CAN MAKE THE TORTILLA’S BLUE! WITH SOME FOOD DYE!” he said, mostly to himself as he pulled the recipe book out and flipped through it. “THANK YOU! I LOVE IT!”

You smiled as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you into a hug. He pressed his teeth to your temple and made a ‘MWAH’ noise causing you to blush lightly and giggle. “You’re welcome, Blue!”

Edge was the next to open his gift. You’d gotten him a yarn bowl, but you’d give that to him later because you knew that he wasn’t too keen on having people know that he was a knitter. Even though…everyone in the house knew that he knitted before he went to bed. His gift to open in front of everyone was a cookbook for different types of lasagna. His reaction was probably the quietest. Just an appreciative look…which may have surprised you if his reactions to all the gifts were quiet appreciation.

Then again, you didn’t really take him as the type to like receiving gifts.

Red, on the other hand, was much more vocal about his dislike of getting gifts. Not in an unappreciative way but just getting flustered every time he opened a box and saw that his roommates had actually gotten something that he wanted or reflected his interests. You’d gotten him a magnetic wrist band for when he was working on the cars because he had complained often that he’d dropped one too many items into the depths of the engine. Besides that, you’d also gotten him a coffee mug that said FUCK, but the F was the handle. He snorted when he saw it.

“really?”

“What?” you smiled over at him, “you said that you couldn’t give a fuck what I got you. So I decided to give a fuck instead.”

He snorted again, shaking his head.

Stretch was last but not least, and you were honestly less worried about him liking his gift. You got him a plain leather-bound journal and Papyrus had helped you stamp in a bee decal into the front of it. Stretch ran his fingers over the journal cover; then he bumped his elbow into his brother to show him.

“you better bee-lieve i’m gunna use this a lot,” Stretch joked to his brother, who rolled his eye good-naturedly. He quickly thumbed through the journal, his smile growing slightly. When he went to put the box aside, you pointed out that there was something else in there. He reached into the box and pulled out the candy lingerie and held it up. You saw Toriel lift a hand to cover her mouth and look away embarrassed. Frisk covered their face with both hands as they started cackling quietly.

Papyrus’ mouth slackened, “I WAS KIDDING WHEN I TOLD YOU HE’D LIKE THEM!”

Stretch stared at them with a pretty expressionless look, and then slowly stood up and teleported out. Your smile faded, but only until he teleported back in wearing the two-piece over top of his clothes. He stared at you for a long moment before lifting the candy-bra up and biting off a candy.

You lost it.

Maybe because it was so early.

Or maybe there was just something so hilarious about a skeleton wearing candy lingerie overtop of a black tanktop and pizza print pyjama pants munching away on the candy.

Either way, Sans and Red join in on your and Frisk’s cackling.

He didn’t take them off the rest of the morning, and you couldn’t look at him without laughing especially after he offered you a bite of the bra.

You slipped into your bedroom just after lunch to get changed for the Gyftmas party and put your presents from the others away. The boys had gotten you a lot of practical things that you’d mentioned you’d needed or wanted. You had cried at every single thing you had received, but the thing that made you cry the most? Toriel had made you a baby sling, so when the baby was born, you could swaddle it up against your chest. It was in your favourite colour and was so soft.

Edge knocked on your door, and you smiled over your shoulder at him as he entered. He held up a gift bag towards you without saying anything. You accepted it, “You already gave me a gift,” you reminded him, raising your eyebrow.

He cleared his throat, “YES. WELL, I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE EDGE…I COULDN’T LET MYSELF BE OUTSHONE BY THE OTHERS.”

You chuckled and peered in. It was something knitted. Pulling it out, tears sprung to your eyes. It was a little matching hat and gloves set. Teeny tiny. For the baby bones.

You covered your face with one hand. “They’re…they’re so…cute,” you choked out, clutching them to your chest.

Goddamn emotions.

Edge glanced back at the door before wrapping his arms around you and stepping closer. He stroked your back as you sobbed against his chest quietly.

When your hormones decided they were done fucking with your tear ducts, you stepped back, wiping at them. “Thanks…Papyrus,” you said, voice thick from your tears. “These are amazing.”

“OF COURSE, BECAUSE I MADE THEM!” he announced, clearly flustered by your tears and genuine compliment. “NOW I AM NEEDED TO HELP THE OTHERS GET READY FOR THE GYFTMAS PARTY TONIGHT.”

He turned on his heel and fled your room.

You chuckled and tucked the knitted baby wear away someplace safe.

Later that night, the house was filled with monsters and humans that you both knew and didn’t know. A skeleton was by your side the entire night, and you found yourself remembering the first time you had met them. Especially considering that the first time you had met them had been at a Gyftmas party.

Frisk hadn’t introduced you to a lot of people, as they didn’t speak at these types of gatherings unless it was very quietly to select people. Yet, they’d ushered you straight to the different skeleton monsters, introducing you proudly and happily. They were actually probably the only monsters that Frisk really introduced you too, everyone else either you introduced yourself, or you already knew them.

This time was much different. All the skeletons were very popular amongst their own ‘sub-culture’ of monsters, and you were constantly being introduced to someone new, whether it be a monster or a human. Though, you did end up feeling overwhelmed about an hour into the event, so you headed off to your bedroom for the rest of the night.

Stretch eventually joined you, and the two of you ended up watching stupid movies together on your laptop until you passed out to the sound of the party still going long into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to post this on Christmas, but I ended up being either a) too busy or b) too tired to bother booting up my computer. Besides, Gyftmas isn't Christmas anyways so it doesn't really matter when this chapter is posted as there is no official Gyftmas day as far as I'm aware.
> 
> For the Gyftmas gifts I had an idea for most of them except for Blue lolol. InkedFandoms over on tumblr suggested a Taco Cookbook, which led me to find a diy tortilla maker kit.


	22. Chapter 22

You swung open the door and beamed as you saw Chara standing on the front deck. They were wearing the most casual clothes that you had ever seen them wearing, as they were quite the fashion-forward Ambassador. The last time you’d seen them in casual clothing was years ago back when you lived with Frisk still. You invited them inside and asked if they wanted any tea or anything.

They grinned back at you, “Nope! Come on. Our appointment is in thirty minutes.”

“Appointment?” you parroted, “I thought you said we were just hanging out?”

“We are! At a Spa,” they clarified, wriggling their phone at you. “I even made sure to book you a maternity massage! Let’s go!”

You stared at them in shock, “you’re…going to let humans touch you?”

“It’s a monster-human spa,” Chara clarified, “I requested to be monster-only.”

Chara really disliked most of humanity; they only put up with you in the beginning because of Frisk. Though, even after Frisk and you had broken up, Chara had kept messaging you and talking to you. It wasn’t as frequent as your communications with Frisk, but it was still there. When you had told Chara that you were pregnant the other day, they had asked if you wanted to hang out, which you had agreed to…but you didn’t expect this.

“I don’t have the money to go to a spa,” you said, pursing your lips together.

Chara grinned at you, “Good thing I do.”

“Chara, no…”

“Chara, yes!” they said and then yanked your coat off its hook and held it out towards you. “I’m treating you to a full spa-day. Massage, mani and pedicures, and a facial. That way, you’ll be all relaxed, and I will be able to convince you to allow me to use my diplomatic immunity to murder Chad.”

“Your diplomatic immunity doesn’t cover murder. I’m pretty sure,” you replied back exasperatedly but allowed them to help you in to your jacket. Edge walked into the living room, meeting your gaze. “I’m going to the spa with Chara! I’ll be back later.”

He merely nodded and continued on his way towards the kitchen, and you headed out of the house after Chara.

The trip to the spa was full of chatter about everything that had happened since you had last seen them, and there was a lot of time to cover. They had been away on a trip for the past six months, and the last time you had seen them in person, you were still with Chad. There was a lot of ground to cover. Though, you let them start off by telling you all about the various things they had seen and heard abroad.

When the two of you finally entered the actual spa, your mouth slid open into an ‘o’.

Someone instantly offered to take your coats, said, “Welcome back, Chara! This must be the ‘plus one’ you were talking about! It’s nice to meet you,” they said your name then, which surprised you a bit. They then asked if you wanted any water and what _kind_ of water. Sparkling? Flavoured? Plain? Ice? No Ice?

You didn’t really remember your answer, as you mumbled it out as your eyes roamed over the interior of the entrance room. There was a full-on waterfall display off to the side, filling the air with the soft sound of rushing water and the sweet smell of freshwater and live plants. You spotted a few flashes of orange and white in the water from where you were standing, and as you leaned a bit closer to take a look, a beautiful yellow koi flicked its tail against the surface of the water creating a small splash.

The woman came back with two glasses and handed them to you and Chara before smiling kindly. Not even the ‘I work in customer service’ smile that you were used to…but a genuine smile. She gestured towards the counter, “We have you down for the full package, correct?”

“Yes,” Chara said, leaning against the counter and guzzling down their water.

“Starting off with the manicures and pedicures, then the two, one hour-long massages, one being a prenatal massage, and finishing off with the rejuvenating facials,” the woman said, checking something off in the book resting on the counter.

“Sounds about right,” Chara added, picking at their nails now.

“Perfect! If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to your private room.”

You grabbed Chara’s elbow and mouthed ‘private room’ to them, eyebrows coming together in concern. How much was Chara spending?! They merely gave you a shit-eating grin, linked your arms together and strode off after the woman.

The private room was fairly large and had two massage tables set up off to the side, and two large lazy-boy looking chairs with large tubs at the foot of them. The woman gestured to some very fluffy looking robes set up on the chairs. “Feel free to change into these robes, and then get comfortable. There are a few forms you need to fill out, just a general massage one asking about health concerns, and then one for the pre-natal aspect,” she informed you, turning to address you. You accepted the clipboard she picked up from the side, “Just fill that out and leave it on the closest massage table. Anne will go over everything with you before she starts. Is there anything else I can get you to make you more comfortable?”

You shyly shook your head, “I’m good, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. The girls will be in shortly to start your manicures and pedicures. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call up to the front desk using the phone!”

Chara nodded curtly, and the woman quietly closed the door on the way out. The moment the door was closed, Chara relaxed and then stripped off their shirt. You gaped at them. “What are you doing?”

They pointed at the robes, “getting prepped for my massage after the manis and pedis.”

You kept your gaze averted, “Could’ve warned me first.”

“Eh. You’re one of the few humans I tolerate, and you’re not attracted to me in that way, so I don’t care if you see me naked,” Chara said, and you heard more rustling fabric, “changed.”

You looked back and saw them with their robe secured around them and settling into one of the chairs. They were clearly wearing some sort of sweatpants beneath, and you walked over and picked up the robe. Beneath was a pair of sweatpants with the spa’s name written on the waistband. They were soft, at least.

Glancing up at Chara, they purposefully picked up one of the magazines sitting on the side and held it comically close to their face. You felt the corner of your mouth quirk up at that, and you quickly changed, placing your things into the small cubby space provided and then sat down on the chair.

Chara taught you the controls of the chair, which was basically the fanciest of massage chairs, and soon you were melting into the chair even when the women came in to start the manicures and pedicures.

You would’ve thought Chara would have been very awkward and stiff, but they basically ignored the women and chattered away with you about non-consequential stuff. Talking about movies, tv-shows, celebrities, MTT, that sort of thing. You were feeling fairly relaxed due to the chair by the time the mani and pedicures were done, and the women poured you both more water and left so you and Chara could get on the massage tables.

You looked at your nail polish choice and found yourself smiling.

When was the last time you had painted your nails? Or done anything that was really for your enjoyment rather than something you felt you needed? Most of your baths now-a-days were merely because you had aches and pains due to your pregnancy, and less because you wanted just to relax and focus on your own self-care.

Chara didn’t get any coloured polish, just a clear coat to provide a bit of shininess, but they seemed more than happy with them. They helped you onto the massage table, which…you felt bad admitting, but you were surprised they did. They weren’t an overly touchy person, and earlier them linking arms with you was also just as surprising.

“How is everything going with that asshole anyway? Is he still bothering you?” Chara asked as you settled down onto your back on the massage table.

You sighed, launching into the whole story about Chad and your sister.

“What? That asshole got you both pregnant? Oh! That is it! I am finding you and your sister a great lawyer who will wring every last penny out of him for child support,” Chara threatened as they climbed beneath the blankets on their massage table. Their voice became a bit muffled as they put their face through the head hole space.

“You don’t need to do that,” you said quickly, “I-“

“Blah blah blah, I know I don’t need to, but I’m going to. No man is getting away with bullshit like that if I can help it. I think I know a lawyer who will do it pro bono,” Chara interrupted you, still muffled. You felt tears well in your eyes, and you let out a sob before you could stop yourself, and even with your blurred vision you could tell Chara tensed. “Aw shit…stop that. I can’t…I don’t like crying.”

“Sorry,” you hiccupped, “I can’t help it.”

“I know. Hormones and all that shit,” they muttered, you barely were able to hear it. “You’re lucky, I tolerate you.”

You laughed through the tears, and as dryly as you could, you managed to reply, “I’m touched.”

That made them snort, “It truly is an honour to be cared by me, isn’t it?”

“I bow before your humbleness.”

Another laugh was pulled from them then, and you were thankful that your tears subsided as the massage ladies came in. After a thorough conversation with your masseuse, she began your massage, and you felt yourself melting into the table as she worked on your strained muscles. Chara didn’t continue the conversation, but instead fell so silent you swore they actually fell asleep during their massage.

You nearly started crying again as she massaged your ankles and feet. Okay. You did cry a bit. It felt so good. You apologized for crying instantly, and the woman laughed and told you that it was completely fine.

The rest of the spa trip past in a near blur of just relaxation. You and Chara didn’t talk much more during the facials that started right after the massages, nor when the two of you got dressed again, and Chara paid. You resolutely did not look at the price, and Chara didn’t even blink as they were presented with the total, just handed over a credit card.

When you got into Chara’s car, they yawned. “That’s exactly what I needed…glad I can use you as an excuse for a full spa trip.”

You gave them a bland look, “I’m honoured, again.”

They snickered, “Good!”

They started the car and pulled out of the parking stall. The ride was silent for about five minutes, and then you blurted out, “Blue, Red and Papyrus have all confessed to me.”

“Bout time, really,” came Chara’s simple response.

You made a noise that probably would’ve translated to hnrk?

They rolled their eyes at _that_ eloquent response, “Did you really not realize?”

Another noise, “What do you mean? Did I not realize? Realize what? How was I? How did you???”

Another eye roll, “I am not going to get involved in _that_. I don’t get the whole dating thing anyways.”

You stared at them for a few blocks, trying to figure out some way to _convince_ them just to tell you what they meant. They were tight-lipped when they wanted to be, and you had no clue how to get them actually to open up about it. Chara was completely silent that entire time, but at a red light, they glanced over at you.

“I bet you 25G that the other three will confess to you before Valentine’s Day.”

If you had been drinking something, you would’ve spewed it out.

“What??? No! I doubt it!!! I mean…maybe…St-NO! No…no…they can’t all be into me! I’m already reeling that _three _of them like me, I couldn’t imagine all six!” you blabbered out, averting your gaze from them. You weren’t about to tell them that Red had suggested you date him _and_ Blue…which you still needed to talk to Blue about…and talk to Red about Papyrus’ confession. You felt your head swimming with the complexity that was your romantic life.

“Do you not want the others to confess?”

“It’s not that!” you quickly said, “Or…no, I just…Chara, my life is confusing as fuck right now! I don’t know how-“

“Is love really that complicated?” Chara interrupted, “If you feel for someone, shouldn’t you just tell them that you like them and if they like you…just…date? Like…I don’t get the whole ‘it’s the wrong time’ or ‘my life is complicated’ it’s like…get over that? If Mom and Dad thought that at all, then so much of monster history would be different.”

You opened your mouth to respond, but then snapped it shut. “Says the person who just admitted that you don’t get the whole dating thing.”

“Because people make it so complicated! Just date! Just smooch! Whatever! Anyways! 25g. Valentine’s day. You in?” they asked, returning their gaze back to the road as the light turned green. “If you’re so sure that the other three aren’t into you, then you got nothing to lose.”

You pressed your lips together and didn’t say anything for another block. Then you sighed. “Fine! 25g!”

They grinned, “I can’t wait to collect.”

You scowled at them, and they laughed.

“Topic change, am I the godparent to the baby!”

You started at that, “What? Why would you be a godparent? You don’t like humans…and I’m pretty sure you tolerate children even less.”

“It’s your baby so that’s different, and I’ve been around babies before. Monster babies….which are practically human babies but less gross,” Chara rebuttled, grinning still.

“Uh…I don’t know? I haven’t thought about the part after the baby is born…” you admitted quietly, and Chara’s eyebrows flew up.

“So, you haven’t been shopping for baby things yet?”

Chara gasped, “Oh! Then we got to go shopping!!!”

“Sure?” you said, feeling a bit confused about why Chara would want to shop for baby things, but they instantly started rattling off everything that you would need as if they had done research on that before. You just smiled and nodded and hummed along, eventually agreeing to another day to go shopping for baby things with Chara.

When you were finally dropped off at home, you felt a bit overwhelmed by Chara’s enthusiasm for shopping for your unborn child.

What a strange person.


	23. Chapter 23

You waved briefly as Chara drove off. It’d been only a week since the spa trip, but you had seen them more in the past week than you had seen your father and his wife in the entirety of last year. That…honestly was a strange thought, and sometimes made you reflect on your relationship with your father harder.

To put it bluntly, you did _not _like what you saw.

You kept giving him chances to prove that he actually wanted to be part of your life, but all he wanted was that perfect nuclear family model. A perfect stay-at-home wife, with their perfect children, blah, blah, blah. When he didn’t get what he wanted…he went to find something new. Hence, his new wife and daughter.

You honestly wouldn’t be surprised if your father announced that _his_ wife was pregnant next.

Maybe he’d get that son he always wanted.

You shoved those thoughts away and unlocked the front door. Blue’s voice instantly greeted you before you even opened the door fully, and Stretch poked his head out of the kitchen and gave you a lazy smile.

“hey hon, didn’t know you left,” he said, walking out with a ridiculously pink frilly apron that said ‘kiss the cook’ but the word’s ‘don’t’ and ‘skeleton’ written in sharpie, so it said ‘don’t kiss the skeleton cook’ instead.

“Headed out before you woke up, I think,” you replied with an easy smile and placed down the horde of bags onto the floor before starting to untangle yourself from your winter gear. New Year didn’t mean that winter was going to calm down…not be a long shot. It was the coldest it had been since snow started falling, so cold that when you had left earlier, you had been unable to inhale at first because the air was so frigid. You rubbed your hands together and pressed them to your cheeks, feeling them slowly warming up.

“blue’s got the oven on,” Stretch gestured towards the kitchen, “if you wanna warm up a bit.”

“What’s he making?” you asked, looking down at the bags. Should you leave them here?

“I’M TRYING A NEW RECIPE! IT’S A SURPRISE!” Blue called, his head very briefly peeking around the corner of the kitchen. He waved before disappearing again, and then immediately reappearing. “WHOA! YOU GOT A LOT OF STUFF. WHERE DID YOU GO?”

“Ah,” you glanced back down, “Baby shopping, and got some maternity dresses for when I start getting more plump,” you patted your growing stomach lightly. “I’m lazy enough as it is when getting dressed, but I don’t want to be struggling to put on pants when I can barely bend past this later on.”

They both paused, before Stretch reached down and plucked up one of the bags, “can i…?”

“Uh…sure,” you mumbled, before picking up the rest of your bags, “Here, you can look at them in my room. I need to sort through them anyways. Chara went a bit…overboard with a lot of this.”

You hadn’t really wanted to spend a lot on baby clothes right out the gate. Still, Chara had spent a small fortune on clothes for your baby and deemed that it was their ‘baby shower gift,’ to which you mentioned that you probably wouldn’t have a baby shower. Either way, you were sure that your kid wouldn’t want for clothing for the first couple of months…until they grew out of what Chara had picked out at least.

Stretch followed after you with Blue calling that he wanted to join, but after he got what he was baking into the oven first.

Egg was curled up on your bed, and when you placed the bags down beside her, she cracked open her eyes and then pawed at one of the bags curiously. When it crinkled in a way she didn’t like, she got up and walked down to your pillows and plopped down there instead, meanwhile giving the bags the stink eye. Stretch flopped onto the bed, disturbing Egg further.

As you pulled out your maternity clothes, Blue popped into your room and sat with a lot more finesse on your bed than Stretch did.

You sat down and pulled one of the closest bags over to you and pulled out the first thing you could, which were baby shoes. You honestly didn’t really get the need to give babies shoes until they started walking, but Chara was adamant that your baby be as stylish as they were.

Stretch snorted, taking one of them from you, “why do babies even need shoes?”

“THAT’S SO CUTE,” Blue blurted out, taking the other.

“Chara’s idea,” you laughed, showing them the one other pair. Chara had initially tried to convince you to get one for every outfit, but you had managed to work that down to two pairs because you, again, didn’t get the need for a newborn to have shoes.

Each item got a ‘cute!’ or ‘awww’ or other colour commentaries from the brothers as you pulled them out and placing them to the side to deal with later. You’d probably have to clear out one of your drawers for the baby's things until you got a changing table or something. The sooner you started getting things ready, the less stressed you’d be down the line.

Blue fell silent as you pulled out a tiny jean jacket and passed it over to him. His eye lights flashed up at you, wavering for a moment. “THIS MATCHES MY JEAN JACKET!” he said, voice barely betraying his emotions.

A wash of sudden embarrassment flowed over you, and you rubbed your neck, “Ah…yeah. I saw it, and…well, it did remind me of your jacket…and I thought it was cute…um…hope…hope that’s alright?”

His silence was not reassuring, but then his eye lights started to waver again and then he pulled you into a tight hug. “It’s Adorable! I Love It!” he said and then released you to flaunt the jacket towards his brother, who was watching with a fond expression on his face. You reached into another bag and quietly pulled out an orange hoodie and Stretch’s eye lights zeroed in on it immediately.

Blue’s eye lights wavered even more before he took the hoodie from you and held it against Stretch’s. Almost the same shade of orange.

The sucker in Stretch’s mouth fell out of his mouth, but thankfully Blue caught it before it could hit your bedsheets. Stretch took the baby hoodie and sat up more, his fingers rubbed the fabric before he muttered, “…that’s…so cute…” to himself. You flushed and cleared your throat.

“I…uh…may have gotten pieces to match all of you guys…” you mumbled, feeling even more embarrassed. When you had picked them out…it had just been a rash decision, and you hadn’t even thought about it further than ‘cute!’ until now. Maybe you shouldn’t have? Would they think that’s weird?

“CAN WE SEE?” Blue asked, gingerly placing the tiny jean jacket down as if it would break before eagerly leaning forward. Stretch was still examining the hoodie, but he did tilt his head towards you as you made a tiny embarrassed noise before pulling out the remaining clothing pieces.

There was the tiny fake leather jacket with red trimming that would match Edge. A red knitted sweater to pair with Red. A blue coat with white fur lining to match with Sans. Then finally a shirt that said ‘cool baby’ for Papyrus. You knew that out of all the skeletons who would be 100% on board with matching a baby would be Papyrus, so you had gotten a white shirt so that he could customize it if he wanted to so that he and the baby could match even better.

After revealing those to the two skeletons, that was all the clothes you and Chara had bought. You had to put a bunch of it away, and the timer for Blue’s mystery baking went off, so the two skeletons left you alone.

A fond smile stretched over your lips as you quietly put away the different items.

Later, you showed the others the different matching clothing pieces, and you got to see Edge, Red, and Sans all blush as you revealed them.

Edge had blushed and then put on his airs about how ‘OF COURSE YOU’D WANT THE BABY TO LOOK AS MENACING AS I!’ and then commented on the lack of spikes. You explained that baby skin was soft and delicate, and spikes could hurt the baby, and he had said that once the baby was cleared for spikes, that he was going to get the baby a PROPER leather jacket! With more spikes!

Red had come into your room after dinner to ask you something as you were putting away the baby clothes, and you lifted the red sweater. He had…well, the best way to describe it was ‘short-circuited.’ Then got flustered and quiet and soft about matching with the baby, and had forgotten the original reason he had come into your room, instead choosing to help you fold and put away the rest of the baby clothes.

You had called Sans over and showed him, and his reaction was probably the most…perplexing. He had blushed, said it was cute, and then teleported away.

Maybe…maybe Sans didn’t want to match the baby? Which was totally fine! It wasn’t like it was his child, or his responsibility, or anything! Even if it was, you totally would’ve got him not wanting that too!

<strike>So…why did that thought hurt?</strike>

You brushed it aside, and instead had turned to Papyrus and showed him the ‘Cool Baby’ shirt and got the exact reaction you were hoping for. Papyrus gushed over it, and said that he could wear his ‘Cool Skeleton’ crop top and match the baby bones! Though he did say that there were improvements that he could do to the shirt if that was okay with you, so you handed the shirt over to him and just told him not to use anything toxic for baby ingestion just in case the kid decided to munch on it.

All in all, their reactions were positive…<strike>though you still weren’t sure about Sans’…</strike>

Though, as you got into bed that night…you were stuck with an uncomfortable feeling in your chest that only got worse when you received a text from Chara that she had contacted the lawyer she was talking about the other day.

You tried to ignore it and just rolled over to snuggle Egg into your chest.

Ignore the feeling.

Deal with it later.

You ended up going downstairs with Egg and sleeping next to Red that night because no matter what you did, your chest wouldn’t settle until Egg was purring like a truck on Red’s chest, who was snoring even louder.


	24. Chapter 24

You settled deeper into the beanbag chair, feeling as if your bones were slowly turning to mush. You’d spent nearly the entire day holed up in Stretch’s room just reading and doing nothing else. It was relaxing in a way, especially since Stretch was lying on his bed writing. The gentle scritch of his pen against the journal you’d bought him was relaxing, and occasionally, you’d find yourself just zoning out and near falling asleep as you sat there.

Finally, your stomach gave out a big growl, and Stretch lifted his head and let out a soft chuckle.

“hungry?”

“Kinda,” you admitted with a laugh before bookmarking your page and placing it off to the side. As you sat up, you paused and glanced around. You’d noticed earlier, but you’d been instantly distracted by Stretch. Now, however, you peeked over at him. “Did you clean?”

Stretch’s eye lights shifted over to his room. A beat passed, “uh…not…recently? it’s messier than normal.”

Okay…that was true. Stretch was the cleanest of the ‘messy’ brothers, but there was still an order to his room that made it so you could stand being in his room the longest. You couldn’t remember if you’d ever been in Sans’ room, but you’d glimpsed inside a few times over the months of living with the brothers, and you knew he was the messiest.

“It doesn’t smell like smoke anymore…kinda smells like…well honey, but also…cinnamon?” you tilted your head, glancing over at him.

“oh, yeah, i stopped smoking, and i got one of those scented things that you plug into the wall,” he pointed at the socket. “sans- er…blue helped me while you were at work one day to wash the walls and carpet so it wouldn’t stink.”

Your head tilted slightly, eyebrows coming together. Why’d he stop smoking? It wasn’t as if skeletons had lungs to be damaged? You asked him that, and he grew sheepish, glancing away briefly.

“smoke inhalation is bad for you and the baby,” he muttered, closing his journal, eyes looking anywhere but at you. “plus…even if i were to smoke the monster brand stuff, it’d still teach the baby bones bad habits.”

Your eyes didn’t even wait until he was finished his full explanation before they unhinged and tears started pouring out. It was full-body sobs, and you reached towards him, blubbering out words unable to speak around your sobs. Stretch’s face went from embarrassed to shocked to amused but with a touch of concern. At least, as far as you could tell through your blurry eyes.

His hands found yours, and then he plopped down onto the bean bag beside you. You wasted no time throwing your arms around him and sobbing into his shoulder. One of his hands rubbed your back soothingly, while the other wrapped around your shoulders and kept you against him.

When you finally were able to pull away from him, you wiped at your face and choked out a laugh, “you’re so sweet,” you mumbled, and then sighed. “I keep crying around you. I’m sorry.”

“s’understandable,” he replied and stood up. He walked over to the small bedside table and picked up the box of tissues and held it out to you. You mumbled thanks and took a couple to wipe your face and blow your nose. A thought entered the back of your mind as you did so, and you peered up at him curiously.

“Why do you have tissues in your bedroom? Do skeletons sneeze?”

Stretch immediately turned away from you and put the tissues back down. “yeah…sneeze.”

A beat passed, and then you laughed, “oh my god are those your-“

“ANYWAYS!” his voice near cracked as he turned around, face blushing. For half a second, you could’ve sworn that it was Papyrus in the room and not Stretch, which reminded you that they were technically all the same person…but with different personalities. You smiled faintly as Stretch pulled up the hood of his hoodie and proceeded to yank on the strings so you couldn’t see his face anymore.

You started laughing at the situation more than at Stretch, and thankfully he could tell that you weren’t laughing at him because he quickly joined along, plopping back down onto his bed. His ‘nyeh heh heh’s’ were an honest rarity, as he usually either let out a chuckle or just smiled at jokes. You couldn’t remember the last time he full-on laughed. The smile on your face made your cheeks hurt. Plus, his laughter just made you laugh more.

“Your laugh is so infectious you should laugh more,” you told him, allowing your laughter to turn into wheezy little giggles.

His blush grew in intensity, “if you’re going to keep embarrassing me, I’m going to need more honey.”

“Sorry!” you said instantly, but he waved a hand and murmured that it was fine. You tossed the used tissues into the trash and then stood up. Another grumble reminded you that it was time for lunch, so you tucked the book you were reading back in its place, and then turned around. Stretch was watching you, an almost serene look on his face. “What?”

“I like your laugh too,” he near blurted out, then blushed more. You laughed and sat down on the bed beside him.

“Thanks…I used to hate it,” you admitted. You wanted to ask if he hated his laugh, and that’s why he rarely laughed out loud, but then he sat up. He was a lot closer to you than you would’ve thought he would be, and you felt your cheeks heat up at the proximity. His eye lights weren’t focused on you, however, but on your hands resting on your knees.

“I like a lot of things about you,” he murmured softly. It just made you blush even more.

“Oh…yeah?” you replied, tone matching his. Your heart was beating in your chest heavily. Was…was he? You didn’t want to get your hopes up…he could just be telling you that you were a swell person to have around. Plus…you still hadn’t dealt with the whole Blue-Red-Papyrus deal…and adding another in would be a mess. No matter what Chara had said.

“yeah…you’re driven, independent, smart…and you’re a big nerd like me,” he said, his tone taking on a teasing tilt at the end that pulled a laugh out of you again. You nudged him with your shoulder.

“Oh! No! Impossible, you’re a bigger nerd. I can never compare, Mr. Otaku Librarian,” you said, and thankfully that drew another round of nyeh heh’s from him that had you giggling as well. As the laughter died down, he reached up and brushed your cheek with his finger tips.

“i…i like you…” he murmured quietly.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you could only stare at him. What could you say? The words you used to gently turn down Red and Blue and Papyrus coming to your mind, but there was so much more now too! His hand slipped away from your cheek, and he quietly apologized to you.

“Your brother _and _Red _and _Papyrus want to date me,” you said instead, tone sounding so much more dubious than you meant it to. Stretch near winced, and sighed.

“i know, they told me.”

You hesitated, and then sighed, looking away from him. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“you could never…trust me,” he said, placing a hand on your back. You gave him a look you hoped portrayed all your insecurities and stress about the situation. He sighed and rubbed your back a bit. “f you choose to date one of us the other would support, if you choose to date no one, we’d support you…if you chose to date all? well, we wouldn’t complain at all.”

You look shifted to one of shock, that’s the second skeleton to suggest that you _could_ date them all.

Before you could reply, you heard Blue’s voice call from the main floor, saying that lunch was ready. You inhaled sharply and stood up, the quiet secluded atmosphere that was Stretch’s room breaking. Before you could do anything, however, Stretch reached out and touched the bend of your elbow. “don’t worry about what i said.”

There was an almost panicked aspect to his words, which made you stop and glance back at him.

“You told me to trust you, so I will,” you murmured, “but…trust me and give me time to process?”

He nodded, “all the time in the world you need, honey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOT! Nother confession chapter in the bag -dabs-


	25. Chapter 25

You woke from a much needed rest, and stretched out in your bed glad for your day off. The past work week had just felt more exhausting than usual, and your feet and legs ached by the end of the day. You felt the phantom ache in your feet as you recalled that irritating pain. With a sigh, you shifted slightly in bed and Egg perked up from her spot on your other pillow. She gave a biiiiiiiggggg stretch, flicked her tail and then meowed at you as she walked over and flopped down against the side of your face and promptly got a bunch of fur in your mouth.

You nuzzled her lightly, causing her to roll and bonk her head against the top of yours and then start licking your hair. With a smile, you picked up your phone and began scrolling through social media while petting your sweet kitty.

Eventually, you checked your emails and stilled as you read your most recent one. It was from a law firm, and for a moment your heart beat quickened and you were afraid you had done something wrong and were being sued for it.

Part of you didn’t even want to open it…but you tapped it anyways.

Good thing, too, because you instantly calmed down.

It was just from the lawyer that Chara had mentioned they were going to speak to on your behalf. You skimmed through the email, debating if you should go through with it...but the lawyer _did _say they were willing to take both yours AND Anna’s cases on pro bono. You searched both the lawyers name and the company before you even thought about agreeing to meet with the lawyer.

The company specialized in domestic issues from abuse, divorce, child support, among other such things. The lawyer was relatively new to the company, as far as you could tell from the quick search. It explained why they were willing to do this for free. Get a couple of easy to win cases, do them for free, and then be able to have those cases as experience that would help later down the road.

You forwarded the email to your step-sister, adding ‘Found a lawyer, if you want to go through with it.’

When you hit reply, you paused.

Should _you_ go through with it? Wouldn’t it be easier to just…not? Did you want to put yourself through the stress of dealing with a lawyer, potentially just pissing off Chad, and thus making your life harder because the father of your child was pissed at you?

Egg’s purring helped soothe the growing anxiety in your chest.

There was still the issue that…as far as you were aware, Chad didn’t know you were pregnant. Did you even want to let him know? Ugh…no, you had to let him know. Not telling him could cause a _lot_ more issues down the road, especially if he decided he wanted to be part of the kids life and accused you of intentionally hiding the kid from him.

With a sigh, you locked your phone and placed it to the side. You’d message the lawyer later after you’ve had more time to think. Plus, it was the weekend. You could wait until Monday to decide.

Egg’s leg flopped over your face, covering your nose as she proceeded to start licking your forehead instead of your head.

You giggled, before blowing lightly on her foot. She made an almost offending meow before standing up and moving away from you. “Aww, come back, I still wanna cuddle!” you complained, but she stepped onto the nightstand beside your bed and then disappeared behind the curtain. You leaned over, plucking up the curtain to look outside.

The skeletons looked like they were in the middle of a snow-skeleton building competition. All bundled up and intently patting and shaping the snow. You laid in bed all cuddled up and warm watching until your gaze slowly shifted to the side and caught Stretch’s eye. You felt your face heat up and you gave a quick wave before dropping the curtain. For a moment, you did just want to curl up in bed and not leave the safe warmth of the bed…but with a sigh you threw the blankets off and got up to get ready for the day.

After a quick breakfast, the skeletons were still outside, so you turned on the kettle and started getting mugs ready for hot drinks. You knew their preferred hot drinks by heart and got them all ready. You found a tray and loaded the hot drinks up on it before heading to the door.

It took a bit of maneuvering to get on your jacket, and then open the door but the moment you placed a foot out the door, someone was taking the tray from you. You glanced up to see Stretch smile down at you. “these for us?”

“Obviously,” you teased, “the cups are colour coded, as per usual.”

His smile softened, “thanks, hun.”

You hoped it was cold enough, or the skeletons didn’t know that much about human skin, to be able to notice your cheeks heating up. Instead, you just closed the door and helped Stretch dole out the hot drinks.

Red and Sans were both passed out on the porch swing, but perked right up when you jokingly told Stretch that they must not want the drinks. Both of them thanked you, and offered you a spot on the swing but you declined. Blue gave you a smooch on the cheek as he accepted his, and downed it basically in one gulp, thanked you again, and then went back to building. Papyrus took a moment to savour the drink, while Edge said he’d drink his after.

You returned back to the front porch with Stretch and sat down on the steps, ignoring the slight chill of the wood against your butt and thighs. It wasn’t that cold out anyways. Stretch sat down next to you a moment later, pulling out a book from the front pocket on his hoodie and started reading quietly as he sipped his drink.

It was chilly out, but with your warm drink and listening to the more excitable skeletons bicker about whose snow-skeleton was going to the best, you didn’t care. Eventually, you found your gaze sliding to the book Stretch was reading, which you tried hard to _not_ read over his shoulder. His eye lights slowly shifted over to you at one point before he quietly started to read aloud to you. You felt a bit embarrassed at the start, but you soon didn’t care. It was…nice.

Red eventually dropped down on your other side, but two stairs lower and leaned back, watching the events of the snow-skeleton competition unfolding. There was a bit of fluff clinging to the top of his skull, and you reached out without thinking and brushed it off with your knuckles. His face lit up red, and he resolutely didn’t look at you…and if he leaned his shoulder against your legs, well, neither of you said anything.

The quiet peace was interrupted by a honk. You jumped slightly, eyes flicking up to see a _very_ familiar truck parked in front of the house. The passenger window rolled down and you locked eyes with Chad.

Red stiffened and, surprisingly, so did Stretch. The latter’s tension was almost barely noticeable, and you wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t been leaned against _him_.

You stood up, placing your mug down in your spot and then headed down the walkway towards the gate. Irritated. What the fuck did he want? You asked him such and he winced slightly, but then climbed out of the car and walked around to the other side.

“Look, I’m not here to cause a fight or anything,” he said quickly, holding up his hands. Though, he wasn’t addressing you with that sentence, his eyes were on someone behind you. You had a feeling who that someone was, but you didn’t turn around to confirm it. Chad glanced back at you, and then gestured to the bed of his truck. “I just wanted to know if you wanted any of this shit before I take it to the donation center or the dump.”

Your forehead furrowed, “Uh…what? Why would I want your old shit?”

He awkwardly laughed, “No…not my shit, uh…the shit you left behind when you…uh…you know,” he glanced away briefly, then met your gaze again, “I know you said you didn’t care but…yknow…you were upset and shit so I dunno if you really got everything you wanted. Don’t wanna be blamed if you remember last minute that I threw out a family heirloom or anything.”

You sighed slightly, “Alright…” you opened the gate and waved your hand to the side. Chad got out of your way like you physically shoved him, which typically would’ve made you feel powerful…but you were just tense and wanted him to go away. Once he was out of your way, you headed to the back of the truck and peered in.

Your eyes widened, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” you turned around waving towards the skeletons who were gathered by the fence and giving Chad not friendly looks. “Can you guys help me get the cat tower? Egg loved that ugly thing!” you asked, pointing at it lying down. You had been so upset leaving it behind because Egg had loved it, but it wouldn’t have fit in the car.

Papyrus instantly came to your aid, and you clapped your hands together excitedly. Temporarily forgetting that Chad was the one who brought the things for you, you rooted around in the remaining bags, pleasantly surprised by a few things that you had accidentally left behind that you wanted. You were so focused on chattering away to Papyrus about various things you found, that you didn’t even notice the tension growing off to the side.

Not until Papyrus helped you down from the truck before he walked past the others, keeping the cat tower out of the snow. Edge had a hand on Red’s shoulder, which spoke volumes about how furious Red was. Not to mention that you could see Red’s hands clenched tightly into fists.

“Thanks for bringing Egg’s cat tower over,” you said, keeping your voice as even as possible, “goodbye.”

Chad glanced over at you, and gave you an awkward smile. You gave him a sharp look when you saw his gaze do a quick once-over of your body, he cleared his throat, his eyes darting over to Red again. “Uh…yeah…no problem. I’ll just be-“ he cut himself off, then his eyes zeroed in on your waist again. You could see the wheels turning in his mind.

“On your way?” you interrupted, moving to step past him and back into the yard.

“Wait,” Chad stepped in your way, holding up a hand, “uh…you’re…” he glanced down at your stomach again. You cursed yourself for not zipping up your jacket. Though, you merely crossed your arms.

“Trying to get past you? Yeah, I am. Get out of the way, Chad…” you ordered, giving him a sharp look.

“No…are you….pregnant?” he asked, voice dropping down quietly.

You pressed your lips together, “Yeah. Now get out of my way,” you ordered again.

“best listen to her,” Stretch’s voice interrupted whatever Chad was about to say.

“if you don’t get out of the way-“ Red started, but Chad completely ignored them both.

“How long?” he all but demanded, placing his hands on his hips and leaning towards you.

“15 weeks,” you replied back coolly, “Now seriously, get out of the way.”

If this was any other situation, you might’ve just shoved him out of the way…but you didn’t want to start anything. Not while you were pregnant.

Chad’s face scrunched up as he thought, and then his face blanched. “Wait…it’s mine?”

“No, the kid is _mine_. You, unfortunately, are the DNA donor,” you snapped back.

Sans was standing beside you before you could blink, and Chad stumbled back in surprise. When you glanced over at him, his eye lights were gone, and his permagrin was tight. “come on, bud,” he said to you, gesturing towards the gate. “time for you to go.”

“No! If the kid’s mine, I should’ve been told,” Chad demanded, “I got a right to the kid too.”

Red wrenched away from Edge, and teleported in front of Chad. Before he did anything, you quickly grabbed his hoodie and pulled hard enough that Red stumbled backwards. It startled both you, Sans, and Red. However, it was a bad enough startle that it stopped Red from trying to get closer to Chad again.

“ya don’t got right to shit,_ **pal**_,” Red all but snarled, jabbing a finger at Chad, “and if ya were back in the underground, you’d be dead.”

Chad’s face paled even more, “Are you threatening me?”

You quickly got between the two of them, placing a hand on Red’s chest, “look, just… get the fuck out of here, Chad. I really thought maybe you’d just be a good, decent human being for five minutes, but you couldn’t even do that could you?” Before Chad could respond, you turned back to Red, giving him a pleadingly look, “Let’s get back inside, it’s getting cold.”

You went to take a step towards the gate, but Chad grabbed your arm.

The skeletons shouted in alarm, but before _any _of them could actually react, you turned around and slammed the heel of your palm into the bottom of Chad’s nose. There was a sickening crunch and you winced and yanked away from him. Chad stumbled backwards, surprise written across his face before blood started to gush from his nose.

“Shit! Shit!” he swore, hand moving up to cup his nose. “You broke my fucking nose! Bitch! What the fuck! Oh fuck!”

“You grabbed me! I reacted!” you blurted out in response, patting your pocket for tissues. He didn’t wait for you to find anything, just continued tossing insults and swears as he hurried to the other side of his car and climbed in. He peeled away faster than was probably safe, and you winced slightly. “That…could’ve gone better.”

Red began cackling, and then he slung his arm over your shoulder, “dollface, i have never been more attracted to you.”

You buried your face into your hands, “holy shit, Red…” you huffed.

“you ok?” Sans asked, giving Red an exasperated look. You shrugged slightly, peering out from between your fingers.

“I just hope that won’t come back to bite me in the ass.”


	26. Chapter 26

Suffice to say, you had emailed the lawyer immediately, as well as informing them also of what just transpired. You were a nervous wreck and felt on edge for the rest of the day. Your skeleton roommates constantly were checking up on you, and you were currently curled up in the entertainment room with Sans and Blue watching some re-runs of Mettaton.

Your phone vibrated and you...really didn't want to look. What if Chad had figured out a way to get around being blocked? You worried at your lip as you picked up your phone and looked at the message. It was from Chad, an email.

You grumbled, and the pit of worry and anxiety in your stomach just worsened...and you opened it up.

_ Since you blocked my phone number I gotta email you now don't think just because I know about the baby now doesn't mean that I'll pay child support or whatever who knows who've you been fucking since we broke up. _

Your teeth chewed harder on your lip as you lowered your phone.

There was a bit of just utter hopelessness that settled into your chest. Fuck. This.

You locked your phone and did your best to ignore it. Instead, you settled against Blue even more and tried to focus on the television. You missed the shared look between the two, but they didn't make a comment. You really tried to keep your emotions down, really tried....but then Mettaton said something that didn't even relate to your situation. Still, for some reason, it just was the last straw.

You buried your face into your hands and wept. Blue wrapped his arms around you, nuzzled the top of your head, and said sweet, comforting words that you barely heard over your wheezy sobs. It was just not fair! Why couldn't anything go right for you for longer than a few weeks at most! God fucking damn it. Why didn't you zip up your jacket? Why didn't you shove past him? Why didn't you do something besides punching him in the damn nose?

Unable to keep your thoughts to yourself, you blubbered your questions to the boys.

"hey...uh...kid...y'know nothing you did was...wrong, right?" Sans spoke up first, surprising you. You sniffled, wiping at your eyes.

"Bu-...but- I p-punched him? You h-h-hate viol-violence…" you stammered out, your voice was quavering as it tried to get a hold of your crying.

"not ideal, yeah," Sans murmured, reaching out and rubbing your back, "but...look...he was stopping you from going back into your house, and you told him to leave...and he grabbed you. that's...not okay...and you hitting him meant that red or edge got too distracted by that to try anything."

"I know but-"

"CLASSIC IS RIGHT," Blue pointed out, giving your shoulders a squeeze, "YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING SELF-DEFENSE COURSES. EVERYTHING YOU DID WAS WHAT YOU SHOULD'VE IN THAT SCENARIO."

You sniffled again, wringing your hands together, "but what if he tries something? Like...what if he...tries to say that I attacked him unprovoked? Or…or…tries to blame one of you guys? Like Red? Oh god…what if he tries to blame Red? Fell monsters always get the shit end of the stick when it comes to that sort of stuff!" you felt panic rising in your chest, but Sans placed a hand over your own hands, stilling them.

"i've got a security camera in the front of the house," Sans reminded you gently, "if he tries anything, we'll just show that video. you were defending yourself."

You rubbed at your face, feeling marginally better.

"Alright...I should probably still write everything that happened down...just in case," you murmured, then sheepishly looked at them. "Sorry..."

"WHAT ARE YOU APOLOGIZING FOR?" Blue asked, rubbing your arm.

"I'm always crying in front of you guys..." you sighed and stared down at your hands. "Stupid pregnancy hormones."

"oh, speaking of that, come with me," Sans stood up and held out his hand. You looked up at him, curiously before taking his hand. His smile grew a bit softer, but then he cleared his throat and released your hand when you were standing. You followed him out of the entertainment room, and you expected him to keep walking down the hall. Still, he merely opened the door to the bedroom across from the entertainment room.

It was empty, and relatively small compared to some of the other rooms, but still enough for you to consider it a bedroom.

You took in the room before looking over at Sans, raising your eyebrow questioningly. "Nice...empty...room?" you said carefully, unsure about what he was showing you.

"thanks, it took six weeks to clean it up and clear out all the old stuff we had in here," he said, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Six weeks?" you repeated, peering back at Blue, who was standing proudly at the door with a massive grin on his face. You returned your gaze back to Sans, "Why six weeks?"

"mutt smoked worse than stretch did," Sans said, in the way of answer, and shrugged his shoulders. "it took a  _ skele-ton _ of work."

You ignored the pun, as it was as old as you were at this point, you glanced around. "Well...this...is a very empty room now. What are you planning on doing with it?"

Sans' smile grew, "you're living with us now, pretty permanently, and...yknow the babybones is going to eventually pop out."

Your chest squeezed as you searched his face to see if he was actually implying what you thought he was implying. "Are you saying...?"

"yeah. didja think we'd make you live in the same room as your kid forever?" Sans asked, his smile growing even wider as you felt your own face split into a wide smile.

"Really, really?" you asked, and he nodded. You couldn't help but erupt into more tears and throw your arms around him, hugging him tightly. He chuckled, hugging you back, which made you just cry harder. The last time you'd gotten a hug from him had been when you'd figured out you were pregnant. If your hormones weren't acting up, you probably would've only been tickled pink that he was hugging you, but now you were just a gross sobbing mess.

You were just a blubbering mess of 'thank yous' and 'sorry for crying on your hoodie' and 'i'm so gross.' He just held you as you cried and rubbed your back. He began cracking lame-ass puns about the situation, and then you finally pulled away from him, wiping at your face and sniffling.

"Thank you so much, Sans..." you mumbled and then looked around the room again. "Uh...I know we've probably touched on this before, but...do you want to increase my rent?"

"nope."

"Are you sure?"

"yup."

"Really?"

"yup. not gunna penalize you for having a kid."

You felt tears again, and you pressed your hands against your eyes and took a deep breath. "This...is amazing, thank you..."

"no problem, the baby bones needs their own place," he said and then shoved his hands back into his pockets. "you can do whatever you want to it. without breaking down any walls."

You laughed a bit, "Deal."

As you looked around, ideas forming in your head, you turned back around to Sans and patted your stomach lightly. "The baby actually has bones now, you know."

His grin faded slightly, "what?"

"It...has bones now? What do you mean what?" you said, frowning as well.

For a moment, he just stared at you blankly, then something seemed to click in his head. "oh. right. human babies grow bones."

"Why were you so concerned?" you asked, taking on a teasing tone as he seemed to be relieved by that fact.

He gestured at himself, "i'm made completely of bones, the idea of the kid not having bones immediately? kinda freaks me out, not going to lie."

You laughed before throwing an arm around his shoulders and giving him a side hug, "well, no need to worry anymore, they've got little baby bones."

That seemed to soothe any remaining worries in him, and he placed a hand on your waist and returned the side hug. You ignored the slight warmth to your cheeks at the touch; instead, you focused on envisioning a baby room for your little baby bones.


	27. Chapter 27

Edge was a great companion to take shopping, you decided. He wasn’t one to want to linger and hum and haw over every little thing. By the time he decided to go shopping, he knew  _ what  _ he wanted,  _ where _ he wanted to get it, and  _ when _ he wanted to get it. So, really errand shopping with him was a fast endeavour. Plus! People never bothered you when you were out with Edge! Even if you were wearing a tighter shirt, so your baby bump was a bit more prominent.

Sure, you weren’t that far along that many people stopped you, but you’d gotten comments about it already, which annoyed you.

Thankfully, no one had asked to touch your stomach yet. You weren’t  _ that _ far along.

Still, Edge and you were waiting on something to be finished. You couldn’t remember, as you hadn’t really been paying attention as Edge was talking to the employee. Now, you were standing next to him, merely scrolling through your various social media pages.

“Oh my god,” you whispered, before turning the phone towards Edge, “Look at this cat.”

It was a very, very light grey cat listed as a DMH, or a ‘domestic medium hair,’ and he was missing a leg, an eye, and part of an ear. He looked just as grumpy as Edge could at times, and you resisted the urge to say ‘it’s you’ because you knew that Edge wouldn’t get it. 

He merely eyed the photo, then as he looked away, his gaze returned to the phone. “IT IS A CAT,” he said drily, but there was…something to his voice that made you perk up a bit. You shifted the phone back to yourself so you could read the description.

“IT GOT ATTACKED BY A COUGAR? AND SURVIVED? HOW?” Edge asked, turning your phone back towards him to read the description for himself as if you were lying. You merely grinned at his intense interest in the cat.

“It doesn’t say, but that is really amazing. Poor kitty,” you turned back and clicked on the link to take you to the adoption website. You scrolled down to the more in-depth description, and your heart broke a bit. “Aw…Sweetpea has been there for five years now, and no one wants to adopt him because he’s a grump,” you sighed, scrolling through the photos. Edge had stepped closer and was looking over your shoulder intently now.

He opened his mouth to ask you something but then was distracted by the employee walking up. You returned back to scrolling through social media and forgot almost entirely about Sweetpea.

Until you were in the car with Edge after lunch as he insisted that you needed to eat and that he was hungry as well. You half expected him to confess his interest in dating you in that second, especially when he parked his car and then turned to you, a shy look on his face. He said your name.

“Yes…Edge?” you hesitated if he did confess that meant that Sans was the last skeleton between you losing or gaining 25G.

“DOES THE DEVIL SPAWN GET ALONG WITH OTHER CATS?” Edge asked, and you blinked in surprise.

“Uh…yeah, she’s pretty chill with other animals. Chad-“you cut yourself off, and then started again, “ _ I _ looked after a friend’s cat for a bit a couple years ago, and she was okay with them. It depends on the animals, though, I guess.”

Edge nodded, and looked deep in thought for a moment before straightening, “WE- ER, I WANT TO ADOPT THIS….SWEETPEA,” he visibly cringed at the name, “BUT I DO NOT WANT TO CAUSE ISSUES WITH YOUR DEVIL SPAWN.”

You gasped, actually full-on gasped, and grabbed his arm. “Really?”

“REALLY! ANY CREATURE ABLE TO TAKE ON SOMETHING MORE THAN TWICE HIS SIZE AND WEIGHT AND SURVIVE IS WORTHY OF BEING MY PET!” Edge said, puffing up slightly at your excited face.

“Can we got to the adoption center, right now?” you asked, almost vibrating with excitement. “We might be able to set up a meeting with Sweetpea with my baby!!!”

Edge’s face softened, but you were too busy, almost bouncing in your seat to notice. He nodded curtly and then pulled out of the parking spot. You gave him directions as you started peppering him with cat information and everything that he’d need to get if he was going to adopt an animal. You were so excited!

When you and Edge entered the adoption center, one of the workers greeted you happily. “How can I help you today?”

“We were wondering if we could meet Sweetpea!” you said happily, leaning against the counter, “Is he available? My friend is interested in adopting him.”

The woman perked up at that, “Of course!”

She led you and Edge towards a little room off to the side, chattering away about Sweetpea. Apparently, he was grumpy at first, but then once he decided he liked someone? He really lived up to his name. Cuddly as all hell and as sweet and kind as any other cat could be. He adored other cats, which honestly surprised you. You’d think after being attacked by a larger cat that Sweetpea would be wary of other animals. 

“I’ll go grab him now, and then I’ll give y’all a while to spend with him,” the woman said sweetly, closing the door behind her.

You turned towards Edge, grinning at him, “This is exciting!”

Edge didn’t respond right away, but then he cleared his throat, “YES. IT IS.”

Your grin softened, and you touched his arm to give it the softest of squeezes before settling down into a chair. “I’ll let you interact with him first, he’ll be your cat after all!”

The woman entered the room again, holding the  _ biggest _ cat you’d ever seen. He was at  _ least _ twenty pounds, and looked like solid muscle…and floof. She placed him gently on the ground, scratched him from the neck down to his butt before straightening. “There we go! One Sweetpea! Don’t worry about his lack of a back leg, it doesn’t stop him or hinder him at all. Sometimes he might not be able to get up right away, but it’s best to let him do it. Do you two have any questions?”

You shook your head, and the woman smiled, “Great! If you two want to leave, just hit this little bell here so we can come to collect Sweetpea without him escaping into the center. Alright? Or if y’all have questions or anything of the like!”

“Thank you!” you said, and then smiled in return as the woman left.

Sweetpea took a moment to eye you and Edge before moving to climb up the cat tower. Edge studied the cat intently, watching how he moved. You just let him, biting back your comments about ‘just pet him!’ or ‘let him smell you’ or anything like that. If it was to be Edge’s cat, you wanted him to decide everything about it. It wasn’t your cat, after all.

Sweetpea took to eyeing Edge from atop the cat tower, his front paws dangling over the edge.

They stayed like that for a good five minutes before Sweetpea slowly blinked and then closed his eye. Edge moved closer, and Sweetpea cracked open his eye to just watch curiously. When Edge lifted a gloved hand, Sweetpea sat up and then whacked Edge’s hand.

You stifled a laugh at Edge’s incredulous look.

Then he cackled.

“I THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO BE…SOFT FROM WHAT THE HUMAN WAS SAYING, BUT HE STILL HAS A FIGHTING SPIRIT,” Edge said, bordering on excitable. He turned around, placing his hands on his hips. “I THINK WE- ER…I SHOULD GET THIS CREATURE!”

“You haven’t even spent actual time with him,” you pointed out, leaning your cheek against your fist, but you were smiling. “Try playing…” you stopped yourself and then reached over and picked up one of the feather toys, “Try getting him to hunt this.”

Edge studied the feather before slowly nodding, “I SUPPOSE I SHOULD SEE IF HE WISHES TO PLA-“he cleared his throat, “TO HUNT. THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR A CAT. IS IT NOT?” 

“Yeah,” you said as he took the toy. 

You had the  _ utter _ delight of watching Sweetpea chase after a feather toy, and the even better pleasure of seeing Edge lure the massive cat down to play with a feather toy. It surprised you when Edge crouched down, and start giving the cat pointers in what you could only describe as a tender voice. You covered the fond smile on your mouth.

Edge looked back at you and then gestured, “COME SAY HI TO HIM. I DON’T WANT HIM IF HE HATES YOU.”

You carefully knelt down beside Edge and held out your fingers towards the cat. He looked at your fingers before edging forward, sniffing them intently and then brushing his cheek against them. A rumbling, almost stuttering purr erupted from him as you found a spot behind his non-damaged ear that had him flopping onto his side.

“HE IS MINE,” Edge declared, before pulling out his phone and standing up. You continued to give the absolute engine of a cat scritches as he phoned whoever he was calling. “CLASSIC. I AM ADOPTING A CAT. IS THAT ACCEPTABLE?” 

You pressed your lips together to try to hide your giggle.

“SHE IS WITH ME. SHE SAYS THAT HER CAT WILL MOST LIKELY TOLERATE HIM.”

A pause.

“GOODBYE.”

He hung up and then grumbled.

“Pun?” you asked, glancing up at him, and Edge nodded with a disgusted noise. Then he took a step over to press the bell.

The woman was absolutely delighted, and overloaded Edge with information about raising a cat. When you mentioned that you already had one, she was a bit cautious. She instructed you and Edge on how to properly introduce cats. Even if  _ you _ knew how to, it was, again, not your cat, so you stayed quiet. The adoption center explained how they have a grace period of about a week for animals going home to a home with other animals, just in case the animals don’t get along.

Edge paid, picked out a few items that Sweetpea would need, and then the two, plus a new cat, were on your way home.

You put Egg into your room to let Sweetpea get used to the new area. Over the next week, you kept Egg in your room when Sweetpea was out and then would switch who was kept away, so they slowly got used to each other’s scent. Both you and Edge did little things to get them used to each other before the first time you actually introduced the two of them.

Everyone was home because, of course they were.

You carried Egg out and placed her down on the coffee table. She instantly spotted Red and trucked it over to him but then froze when Sweetpea hopped up onto the couch next to him. Everyone held their breath, and Red started to sweat.

“they’re not gunna start a catfight in my lap, right?” he asked, tensing up entirely.

You studied the two cat’s body languages, “not likely, but who knows.”

“great.”

You gave him a light smile.

Egg slowly crept forward, curious but cautious. She craned her neck out and sniffed at Sweetpea. He did the same.

For a tense moment, they pulled away from each other and Egg’s tail flicked in the way that told you she might start swatting. 

Instead, she meowed and then jumped onto the back of the couch and trotted over to Red to brush against his head, and then peered down at Sweetpea and grumbled. You sighed, “As long as you don’t start paying attention to him more than her, I think we’re good.”

Red relaxed slightly, reaching up and scratching Egg’s ear the way she liked.

Edge seemed to relax, as well. “GOOD. THEN I CAN INFORM THE ADOPTION CENTER THAT THEY DON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT US RETURNING HIM.”

As he pulled out his phone, Stretch leaned over the back of the couch. “never thought you’d be adopting a cat, especially one named…sweetpea.”

“HIS NAME IS NOT SWEETPEA ANYMORE. THAT IS NOT THE PROPER NAME FOR A CAT AS POWERFUL AS HIM. IT’S DOOM FANGER NOW,” Edge said matter-of-factly, dialling a number into his phone.

You watched as Red, Sans, and Stretch all looked like they were seconds from LOSING it.

“Doomfanger and Egg!” you said with a grin, reaching out and scratching Doomfanger’s butt. 

Edge pointed a finger at you, “STOP CHANGING YOUR CATS NAME.”

“No, it’s actually Egg,” you said with a faint smile, looking up at him, “Stretch has-“

“STRETCH HAS CORRUPTED YOU FAR TOO LONG. WHAT IS HER NAME?” he demanded, putting his hands on his hips and completely forgetting about his phone call.

Stretch started laughing into his hand, and you looked over at Red for help, but he just grinned unhelpfully at you. Shit. They weren’t going to be any help. “It’s actually Egg. Because she looks like an Egg, and she’s a good Egg.”

“I DOUBT YOU REALLY NAMED YOUR CAT AFTER FOOD. THAT IS SOMETHING THE LAZY BONES WOULD DO,” Edge accused.

You spent the rest of the day off and on arguing about what your cat’s actual name was until you finally cracked and found Egg’s vet papers and showed him. Edge studied the paper intently before looking up at you.

“HER MIDDLE NAME IS CELLENT….?”

“YES,” you replied heatedly, “Because she’s Egg-cellent!” 

Edge placed the papers down on the counter and walked into the bathroom.

“OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Doomfanger was created by boomcrashbanger on tumblr (I believe???? They were the first person at least? If anyone knows otherwise please let me know) They don’t have a tumblr anymore as far as I’m aware or changed their url or what have you, but I just wanted to say that Doomfanger as Edge’s cat isn’t my original idea but a cute idea regardless.


	28. Chapter 28

Something was crushing you slowly. It was a heavy weight on your chest and throat. Whatever it was, was covering your mouth as well and your eyes snapped open. A bit of fear settling in your stomach.

Two very large cats were sprawled on top of your chest, snuggling each other and effectively crushing you.

Egg’s fur was in your mouth and you spat it out.

When did Doomfanger get in your room?

It didn’t matter, you couldn’t breathe with a combined weight of almost thirty pounds on your chest. So, you hoisted Egg off you first and Doomfanger grumped before dutifully following to cuddle up with her on your pillow instead.

Finally! Oxygen!

You kissed Egg’s face and Doomfanger’s head before getting out of bed to get ready for the day!

As you got dressed, you felt the ever present nagging at the back of your mind to check your email to see if the lawyer had emailed you anything important. They’d gotten in contact with you a few days ago, and effectively removed you from new pet bliss to remind you that you weren’t in the clear yet. You still had to deal with Chad.

It was like a wet blanket over all of your excitement, and you were starting to worry that the boys could tell.

Of course they could tell. It was incredibly hard to actually hide any sort of emotions from them when dropping a piece of paper on the floor could make you overreact. When it came to something that actually mattered? You were surprised you could function.

You patted your stomach lightly, your doctor said stress wasn’t good for the baby but you just gave them the look of ‘and how would I stop being stressed?’

With a sigh, you nudged open your door and head towards the kitchen. Speaking of your roommates, they were already all in the kitchen. Three of them were sitting at the table talking quietly, and the other were delivering the food and drinks to the table. You settled into your normal spot and instantly Stretch draped his arm over the back of the chair and Red’s feet nudged against yours.

A smile graced your face, albeit a tired one.

Halfway through the meal, Blue leaned around his brother, “ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING TONIGHT?”

“Uh….probably going to sleep early so I can wake up early to get discounted chocolate tomorrow morning,” you said, only half serious. The day after Valentine’s day was the best, discounted valentine’s day themed everything. You and Chad celebrated Valentine’s day two days after just because you both didn’t want to pay exorbitant amounts on stupid cheesy Valetine’s day shit.

<strike>Or maybe he just didn’t like spending money on you.</strike>

“REALLY?” Blue asked, but you couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not.

“Fuck yeah, it’s expensive otherwise,” you shrugged a shoulder, “Gotta store up on all the sweets.”

Red grinned, “you gunna share your goods, sweetheart?”

“If you ‘port me to the store in our pajamas tomorrow morning,” you offered with a matching grin. He held out his hand and you high fived it.

“deal.”

Hell yeah, no driving and then you get to pig out on sweets. Perfect day after Valentine’s.

Blue merely sighed, a mix of fondness and exasperation, “ANYTHING ELSE PLANNED FOR TONIGHT?”

“I was thinking of doing a mini-spa day, watch some stupid tropy romcom movies or horror movies or something. Egg needs – don’t give me that look Stretch, Edge knows Egg’s name – Egg needs to be brushed and her nails trimmed,” you explained before returning to eating your breakfast. Edge glared over at Stretch who merely gave him a Cheshire grin in return.

“ARE YOU ESPECIALLY ATTACHED TO ANY OF THOSE PLANS?” Blue asked, his voice oddly…unsure.

You peered over at him curiously. “Nah, I can get Red to help me with Avocado’s nails.”

“WHY PICK A NAME WHEN YOU CONSTANTLY CHANGE IT?” Edge demanded grumpily and you reached over and patted his arm affectionately.

Red was about to say something snarky from the look on his face, but Blue quickly interrupted him. “WILL YOU GO TO DINNER WITH ME TONIGHT? I KNOW YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT DATING ME, BUT JUST-“

“Sure,” you interrupted him, and the table stilled. You instantly felt unsure about your answer.

“A…Date-Date Or Just…As…Friends?” Blue asked, oddly unsure. You wondered where his confidence from before went? Maybe it was because there were the others around? You leaned forward slightly to look at him.

Did you want it to be a date-date? Or just a platonic valentine’s day dinner with a friend?

They were waiting on your answer, you realized, and you nodded slowly, “Date-date?”

Blue’s face split into the biggest grin you’d seen on him in the longest time, his eye lights shifting into _hearts_. “YES!” he cheered, and then a blush appeared over his face as he cleared his throat, “UH. AFTER WORK THEN?”

“Sounds good,” you said, feeling a bit shy as you returned your attention fully back to your food.

That shyness turned into anxiety when you realized you had an hour before Blue got back from his shift, and you were staring at your wardrobe belatedly realizing that most of your ‘date-worthy’ clothes don’t really fit that well anymore.

What time would it be in England? Would Frisk be awake?

You ended up calling up Chara instead, because you knew they at least were in the same time zone as you.

“You’re going on a date with Blue?” they repeated, almost surprised.

“Yes, and I need something to wear.”

Chara hummed quietly, “Didn’t you get a blue maternity dress? Slap on some tights and a cute jacket, some accessories, and bam. Date night.”

You dropped the skirt of the aforementioned dress, staring blankly at the wall. “Do you want to come put tights on me? Because bending over is getting really tricky to do.”

“That’s what she said,” Chara blurted out and you sighed, covering your face with one hand.

“You are a child.”

“You’re right that one wasn’t even good,” they sighed, “Okay, nix the tights idea. Oh! Do you have any thigh-high boots?”

“I like how I say ‘bending off is hard’ and you say ‘put on something that you need to pull up your leg’.”

“Could get Blue to help,” Chara pointed out, “Bet that skeleton likes him some thighs.”

You tucked your phone into the crook of your neck just so you could cover your face with both hands. “Why did I call you?” you griped, and they laughed in a way you could only describe as ‘manical’. Thankfully, after that they actually gave you good suggestions. By the time you hung up you were dressed, and ready to go.

Blue knocked on your door a few minutes later, and you felt your heart jump into your throat.

Oh, this was it.

You were actually going on a first date with him.

You hadn’t been on a first date in years.

After inhaling to try to calm your jitters, you opened the door and smiled at him, “You ready?” you asked, stepping out.

“Whenever You Are,” he said, offering his elbow to you.

Your face burned a bit as you took his arm, and steadfastedly ignored the other skeletons gathered in the living room as you headed over to the door. Thankfully, none of them said anything and you and Blue were able to escape to the garage without incident or puns.

It was a bit surprising when he led you over to Papyrus’ car instead of his motorcycle, but you weren’t _that_ surprised that he didn’t want to drive you on his motorcycle. You were a bit surprised he didn’t want to take Edge’s car instead, but it didn’t really matter.

The ride to the restaurant was a bit…awkward. Mostly because you were so caught up in your own thoughts about trying to make it _not_ awkward that you let conversations die before you could think out a response. Pregnancy brain or just your own awkwardness rearing it’s ugly head? Who knows!

“I feel both over and under dressed,” you murmured, staring at the restaurant, and Blue offered his arm again.

“You Look Breathtaking,” he said, easily with a grin, “But Then Again, Your Normal Is Beautiful.”

You felt your face heat up at the compliment and you vaguely remember muttering something like ‘you too’ making his grin falter a bit. Ah, you were so awkward.

“I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE, WE CAN GO SOMEPLACE ELSE IF YOU’D LIKE?” he offered, stopping outside the door. You shook your head immediately. No. You weren’t going to ruin this.

“No, no, this is great! I’m just…I haven’t been on a first date in a long time,” you admitted, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

The grin returned a bit, “THAT’S PERFECTLY OKAY! I’M NERVOUS TOO!”

That somehow eased your nerves considerably, “Well, why don’t we be nervous together in the restaurant?”

His grin grew a bit more and he led you inside. Once the two of you were seated and talking about what you wanted to order, you felt the tension and awkwardness slide off your shoulders. This was so much easier than you thought. He was still Blue, he didn’t mysteriously turn into someone else just because he wanted to date you and got that date. You’d known him for years, and it was a bit silly that you were so nervous in the first place.

There was a giddiness in your stomach as the two of you talked like usual, but when he flirted with you…you flirted back. The blush on his face the first few times were completely worth it.

The anxiety in your chest eased the longer you thought about the idea of this becoming a permanent thing? Dating Blue? Would it really be as complicated as you thought it would be? He knew what he was getting into with everything happening in your life. The pregnancy, the ex, your family. So…it wasn’t like he was going in blind.

He still wanted you.

But…

There was also the whole Red, Stretch, and Papyrus admitting their feelings to you that soured your mood a bit.

Sure, Blue asked you out first…and you didn’t want to hurt him…but both Red and Stretch were 100% okay with a polyamourous relationship.

Would Blue be too?

You were getting worked up and retreating into your own head as you and Blue left the restaurant.

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT, WE SHOULD HEAD TO THE PARK NEARBY!” Blue stated, looking over at you with an affectionate look that made butterflies in your stomach. You nodded, not trusting your voice.

You didn’t want to say something and him realize that you had ruined the mood by overthinking things. As usual.

He offered you his hand this time, and you took it without any hesitation. Your chest calmed down considerably once again as the two of you started to walk. There was still snow on the ground, but it was only a touch cold considering the time of year. You still huddled closer to Blue, partially because the closeness brought a sense of comfort and because he was warm.

Neither of you spoke as you walked, and you tried multiple times to think of something to say but you kept shooting them down. The silence was nice, and Blue didn’t seem to mind it.

When the two of you reached the park, he led you over to a bench by the pond, and you stopped to just…stare.

The moon was out and reflecting off the ponds surface where the water hadn’t frozen. The snow and ice glittered faintly as you moved, and there was this…quiet peace that surrounded the area. The noise of the city seemed to be absorbed by the plants and the snow.

All thoughts in your mind just…dissipated as you sat down next to Blue.

His fingers squeezed yours lightly before he cleared his throat, “SO…MY BROTHER, RED, AND PAPYRUS HAVE ADMITTED THEIR FEELINGS?”

You felt your face burn and you shrugged, “Uh…yeah, but we don’t need to talk about them on our date.”

Blue rubbed your thumb with his, “IF YOU WANT…BUT FIRST, I WANT TO TELL YOU THAT YOU CAN DATE THEM IF YOU WANT AS WELL. THEY’RE GREAT!”

You froze, and slowly tore your gaze away from the scene in front of you to search his face. “…everyone keeps saying that,” you admitted quietly.

The smile on Blue’s face did fall but you could see a seriousness was over him. “It’s because we care for you and want you to be happy, and I for one also want to see my brother happy with someone he cares about as well. AS FOR RED? WELL, HE’S GREAT BUT I CAN OUT DATE HIM ANY DAY.”

“is…do you see me dating other people as a challenge you want?” you asked, a touch confused, but he just laughed and squeezed your hand again.

“JUST BETWEEN RED AND I. IF YOU WANT TO DATE ANY OF THE OTHER SKELETONS, THEN I SUPPORT YOU! NOT JUST SOMEONE RANDOM. BUT I WILL BE A BETTER DATE-MATE THAN RED,” he said with such surety that it somehow soothed you.

Stretch said it wouldn’t cause an issue, Red suggested it first, and now Blue said that he’d totally be okay with it as well.

You looked down at your joined hands.

Finally, you snorted, “I haven’t been on a date with Red, yet, but so far? You’re the best skeleton date-mate.”

His face lit up and he nuzzled the side of your head, “I’M SURE I WON’T BUDGE FROM THAT SPOT.”

You giggled and nuzzled back, “I’m sure.”

When he pulled away, you reached up and placed your hand on his cheek.

“Thank you, Sans…” you murmured, “This was a really nice date.”

“Of Course!” he said, face softening, “But You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet.”

“Oh?”

“I MADE RESERVATIONS KNOWING THAT YOU MIGHT SAY NO AND THAT I MIGHT BE TAKING MY BROTHER, SO OBVIOUSLY THIS IS NOT AS ROMANTIC AS I WOULD’VE LIKED,” he pointed out and you laughed as your brain conjured up an image of Blue taking Stretch out to a Valentine’s dinner that was actually supposed to be romantic.

Blue laughed along with you, forehead pressing against yours.

The two of you stayed out for only a few more minutes before you got too cold.

When you both got back home, just before Blue opened the door into the house you stopped him.

“Can I kiss you?” you asked him in a rush of words, and felt your face _burning_. Why did you ask that? Oh no.

Blue’s face lit up, however, and he nodded eagerly. You hesitated for a moment, but he pulled you closer and leaned forward giving you enough encouragement that you closed the distance placing a soft kiss on his teeth.

A smile stretched over your lips.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he murmured against your lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited because I realized I needed to upload this today and I had only 30 minutes to speed-write before I needed to start getting ready for Valentine's day meself. Woops.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!


	29. Chapter 29

You were seriously uncomfortable.

You had a meeting with your new lawyer and honestly? The offices were so fancy that you felt out of place…you knew you should’ve dressed up more, but you had driven straight over after work. Thankfully, your lawyer stepped out and smiled at you. You, fortunately, didn’t get that sleazy lawyer vibe from them that you thought you would.

Then again, you were here precisely because you didn’t see any red flags in your relationship.

They were incredibly sympathetic to your plight, but also explained how Chad could turn things around and how they would counter any accusations. A lot of the technical terms went over your head. Still, instead of letting yourself get overwhelmed, you forced yourself to ask for clarification when you needed it.

You felt alone again as you sat talking to this lawyer because you were. There was no one with you to offer their silent support.

It drained you.

When you finally left your first meeting with the lawyer, you realized just how awful this entire process was going to be. At least you weren’t paying for it.

Thank goodness for pro bono work.

As you sat in your car, you stared at your phone for a moment before sending Chara a message thanking them for finding you a lawyer once again. You then sent out a text message in the group chat between you and the boys, letting them know that you were on your way back to the house. It had become a thing you started doing, including letting them know where you were. As you got further along in your pregnancy, you wanted people to know where you were just in case something happened. There was anxiety at the back of your head that something was going to happen.

It probably wouldn’t, but you liked being prepared.

Red was the first person to text you, letting you know that he was in the garage working on his bike.

The drive home was incredibly long and unbearable almost. When you finally climbed out of your car, you let out a noise to show your discontent with the entire day.

“attractive,” Red’s voice called out to you, an edge of teasing as his head popped up from the other side of his bike. You stuck your tongue out at him, and he returned the favour.

“Mature,” you teased back, placing your things by the door before walking over to peer over his current work. “Why are you working on your bike?”

“i always get it ready before the snow melts. papyrus doesn’t like it when i drive it in the winter,” Red explained, wiping his fingers free from some oil that clung to them. Well, as best he could with just a dry rag, they were still stained by the oil. “i was also thinkin’ of getting a sidecar for it.”

“Why?” you asked, pulling yourself up on the tool counter after pushing aside a bottle of mustard.

“just thinkin’” he mumbled, looking away from you, “how was the lawyer stuff?”

You blew a raspberry and rubbed at your face, “Stressful.”

“could just kill the guy for ya,” Red said, and even though his tone was teasing, you could sense truth in his words that made you just a little uncomfortable.

“Red…”

He threw up his hands, “jokin’, i swear. ‘sides that won’t do shit for ya. s’not like yer married to him so ya wouldn’t get money from him. kid might but bla-….uh….someone was saying that the money would be held till they’re eighteen or something? dunno wasn’t really paying attention.”

Your eyebrows flew up, “You were discussing the legal implications of  _ murdering _ my ex?”

Sweat broke out along his skull, and he shook his head, “no, no, no, we were- uh…we were tryna figure out human law shit n’ we were talkin’ ta someone who knows! wanted ta be prepared in case ya needed help with it, ya know? the person me n’ paps talked to got real in-depth. Includin’ ya know, if yer ex met an….untimely end. not murder tho! just to see if you’d be screwed if he got in a car accident or somethin’.”

You narrowed your eyes at him slightly, “Who were you talking to? I didn’t know you guys knew a lawyer?”

More sweat, “uh………..i’ll tell ya only if ya don’t mention anything ta baby blue.”

Crossing your arms, you nodded curtly.

“our old roommate black he’s a lawyer,” Red murmured quietly, “paps n’ i went to talk to him shortly after you discovered you were knocked up.”

You sighed, rubbing at your face. That whole thing reeked of family drama. Contextual you knew that something happened and Blue really, really doesn’t like Black. You don’t know much about Mutt, just that he smoked worse than Stretch and used to live in the spot where your nursery would eventually be once you got baby stuff for it.

“That’s a can of worms I don’t want to get involved with at the moment,” you murmured, “can we change the subject?”

Red nodded, and wiped at his skull with a slightly cleaner rag to get rid of the magic sweat. “how was yer date with blue?”

You quirked an eyebrow, “I thought he would’ve told you by now.”

“heh…he told me, but that’s not yer opinion, sweetheart,” he pointed out, turning back to his motorcycle and returned to working on it.

“It was a good first date,” you said, swinging your legs slightly, “but he did say he wanted to ‘out-date’ you…”

Red glanced over, an almost smirk on his face, “he couldn’ out date me if he put every ounce of effort into it.”

“Bold words from someone who hasn’t taken me on a date yet,” you teased him.

He huffed, “s’not from lack of tryin’ there, dollface.”

As he stood up, you thought once again about the idea of dating multiple people. Him, Blue, Stretch, and Papyrus if he was comfortable with it as well. That would be something you’d have to discuss with him separately…but there was nothing really stopping you anymore from dating them.

It wasn’t as if your father’s opinion of you could get any lower, and honestly? You were slowly not caring what he thought. Not since your chat with Papyrus a couple weeks back. You didn’t need to forgive your father for everything he did, and you didn’t need to search for his approval.

If you went for this, it would be because you and all of them wanted and accepted it.

It would take a lot of work if you wanted to make it last long term, but you were willing to put the effort in.

You didn’t know what had changed…but you knew that they all knew what they were getting into if they dated you.

Red walked over and picked up the bottle of mustard and took an unhealthy swig of it before sliding a look towards you. “you okay? got real quiet and a far off look on yer face,” he murmured, eyes searching your face. “we can watch some movies or somethin’?”

You shook your head, “No…no…I just…was thinking about stuff.”

He slowly nodded, “if ya say so…”

“Can I ask you a question?” you asked quietly, voice soft in the quiet still garage.

“shoot.”

“I asked forever ago but…why me? You could probably have your pick of like…any woman out there, but you want to date the pregnant woman with family drama and an asshole ex,” you waved a hand, tone a bit bitter at the last note. “Not to mention that half of  _ your _ ‘family’ also wants to date me.”

“and i answered that forever ago,” Red replied, placing his hands on either side of your thighs on the counter, “yer  _ you _ . I like ya. i like ya personality. i like how ya look. i like the way ya know how to handle my brother being unable to express kindness. ‘sides, if ya choose to date us, yer gunna have to eventually deal with the ‘family’ drama that is mutt n’ black.”

You huffed softly, staring down at one of his hands and the various chunky gold rings that cover his fingers.

Slowly, you placed your own hand over it, and he stiffened before quickly relaxing. Neither of you spoke for a second, but then you glanced up at him, “I like you too.” His eye lights wavered, and a stupid grin stretched over his face. “I want to…but I’m still a bit unsure? If that makes sense?”

He nodded, eye lights returning back to their solid circles, “s’fine. humans don’t typically do the polyamory thing, heard there’s a lot of rules against it. are ya still good with me flirtin’ with ya, though?”

You nodded, and his hand shifted beneath yours until his fingers interlocked with yours. Your face flushed as he lifted your intertwined fingers and pressed his teeth to your fingers. “y’know….i read that sex during pregnancy is supposed to be good for ya.”

You shoved him, laughing but thoroughly flustered at the same time, “Oh my god, Red.”

He chortled before bonking his forehead to yours and taking a step back, “what? imma gentleman, i’d take you out to dinner first.”

A giggle, “What a gentleman, where are we going?”

You could tell that what you said didn’t clue in right away, because he moved to head back over to his bike, but then he paused and glanced back at you. “what?”

“Where are we going? For dinner?” you asked, taping at your wrist, “I haven’t eaten.”

“yer…joking?” he said slowly, eyes narrowing slightly in confusion.

You shook your head, “I wasn’t lying. I do want this,” you slide from the counter and gestured between you and Red, “and I am unsure…but not about dating any of you. It’s more lingering doubts that you’d, any of you would want to date  _ me _ .”

There was a pause before he stepped closer. He brushed a stray lock of hair from your face, his fingers lingering on your face. “alright, sweetheart, get ready for a date that’ll knock yer socks off.”


	30. Chapter 30

Unfortunately, plans changed.

You didn’t get your date with Red, because you’d both entirely forgotten that that evening there was a ‘family meeting’ with the rest of the skeletons. Sans had asked if you would mind leaving the house for a few hours the other day when Mutt and Black came over. You had said yes, which apparently your brain had just taken that information and immediately thrown it out.

So, when Red mentioned that he wanted to take you to Grillby’s, Edge reminded him that he had to stay.

Which prompted you to vaguely remember Sans talking to you about that.

Well…shit.

You were looking forward to going on a date with Red, and he looked equally as put out about the whole thing.

“Rain check?” you asked Red, pouting slightly as you pulled on your jacket. Red sighed and nodded.

“yeah…i guess….”

You squeezed his arm lightly, before turning to Sans, “What time can I be back?”

“black said they’d be out of here by 9. so 9:30 should be good. sorry again, hate to be kickin’ you out of your own house like this especially for so long…” he sighed, rubbing his neck.

“If the drama between Black and Blue is as bad as everyone implies, I think it’s best if I’m not here,” you said with a shrug. Sans nodded and then sighed and ran a hand over his face.

“i’ll make it up to you, kid,” he said, opening the door to the garage for you. “tori said you’re welcome to go over to her place if you don’t have anything to do?”

“I gotta get some more maternity clothes, and I’m craving Grillby’s now since Red mentioned it. You guys want anything?” you asked, they both nodded eagerly. You chuckled, and wriggled your phone. “Just text me your orders and I’ll let Grillby know.”

“get him to put it on my tab,” Sans informed you as you headed into the garage. You waved a hand, then said goodbye to the two as you climbed into your car.

Well.

Damnit.

You pressed your lips together, you really didn’t want to leave but at the same time you didn’t think you could handle hearing family drama right now. Even if it wasn’t your own family drama. Today was rough, and you had _really_ wanted to just unwind with Red at Grillby’s. Maybe you should just not go shopping and pop over to Toriel’s? Maybe she had some more motherly advice to give you.

Or you would just end up crying at Toriel’s house about everything and then get embarrassed that you cried, just to go home and be all embarrassed, knowing that Toriel would’ve told Sans everything.

With a deep inhale, you left the house and headed to the closest mall. Time for some shopping to try to distract yourself from everything that was happening…as if it would work at all. Ugh…

You could just text Chara, but you’d been hanging around with them a lot lately and you didn’t want to just spring you emotional butt on them again. With a sigh, you stared at the various maternity clothes as you walked about the store. Even if they would be invaluable to your whole shopping experience, the fashion forward person they were.

Belatedly, you texted Edge to ask him to keep an eye on Egg for you. You didn’t know how Mutt or Black would react to your cats, but she read the room and if someone didn’t like her she’d typically become a brat.

An hour went by and you had everything you could afford on your budget and wanted.

With a sigh you sat in your car for a bit before deciding to just say fuck it and headed over to Grillby’s anyways.

The atmosphere was as warm and welcoming as ever.

You felt the tension in your shoulders ease slightly as you walked over to Sans’ normal spot and sat down. Grillby’s quiet crackling was relaxing as he walked over and handed you the menu. With a smile, you quietly decided on what you wanted and sat and played on your phone.

When Grillby came back, he lingered near your side of the bar, until you looked up at him and he signed, “_Where are the skeletons?”_

“Oh, Mutt and Black are over,” you explained munching on a fry and then realizing that he’d given you extra. Grillby’s flames shifted but you had no idea if that was the wind or a response. You knew that Sans could read all of Grillby’s subtle flame shifts, but you had no clue. You’d only really known him for a few months, and you only came infrequently.

Grillby nodded, and then signed, “_I know Mutt he used to come in here with the others.”_

You sighed, leaning against your elbow, “So, I’m guessing you know the whole drama?” he nodded, and you smiled wryly, “Blue doesn’t like em and I don’t really wanna get tangled up in family drama.”

Another nod, and the conversation dwindled as you continued to eat. It was nice and quiet, and you could see how easy it would be just to spill everything out to Grillby. The others had mentioned that a lot of humans vented to Grillby. He was warm, quiet, and seemed like anything you said washed over him anways. Perfect vent material, but you wouldn’t take advantage of that.

Instead, you just quietly listened to the quiet jukebox music floating around the bar, and the quiet conversations.

There wasn’t anyone being overtly loud and obnoxious like many other bars you’d been to. If you even thought that there would be, you wouldn’t have come.

As you finished up, you ordered more of your drink, you still had about forty minutes before you could go back home.

Grillby tapped the counter gently, and you glanced up at him. He signed, _“Congratulations on the pregnancy.”_

You smiled, unsure if Sans had told him everything or not. Either way, you thanked him. “Honestly? I’ve been craving your food so much lately, but I haven’t had the energy after work to come in. Thank goodness for family drama,” you joked and inclined your drink towards him with a grin. “Speaking of that, Red and Sans want some take out from you. Their usual.”

Grillby rapped the counter with his knuckles before heading into the back to get that all together for you.

Alone, you sighed and leaned against the counter staring at the condensation on your drink.

Eventually, you hoped that all of the drama in your life would be done with. No more family drama, no more pregnancy drama, no more bullshit. You knew life had it’s ups and downs, but you really hoped the ‘up’ that came after this ‘down’ was long and plentiful. You hoped that Chad would fuck off. You hoped that this polyamory thing would work out…because if it didn’t it’d be way too awkward to live with them.

Grillby interrupted your thinking when he placed two paper bags on the bartop.

_“I can send home food with the skeletons for you,”_ Grillby signed to you, making you blink in surprise.

“They won’t pay, though, and I couldn’t put you out like that,” you quickly denied, “It’s okay.”

Grillby’s flames crackled, and then he signed, _“I have come to terms that they’ll never pay of their tabs. Freeloaders.”_

You laughed softly and nodded, “But I’m no freeloader, and don’t intend to ever be called that. So, unlike them, I’ll definitely pay for my food.”

It was time to head home anyways, and so you pulled out your payment and held it towards the bartender. He held up a hand and shook his head. You extended it a bit further towards him, urging him to take it, but he held up the other hand as well and shook his head again.

“What? Why not?” you asked, lowering your hand and giving him a curious look.

“_How long are humans pregnant for?”_

You blinked in surprise, “Uh…nine months? Why? What does that have to do with anything?”

“_How far along are you?” _

“Uhm…threeish months?” you said, trying to figure out where he was going with the conversation. There was not much to go by since his facial features were just eyes which barely shifted with emotion.

“_Then for the next six months, my food is on the house to you,”_ Grillby signed before crossing his arms.

Your mind went blank for a second, and then you felt tears prick at the corner of your eyes. Before you could stop them, you covered your face. “You’re so fucking nice, Grillby. How do you even run a business if you always give people free food? Do you charge anyone ever?” you blubbered you, wiping at your eyes with your sleeve.

A warm hand rested on your shoulder, and some tissues appeared under your face. You thanked him and accepted the tissues to wipe at your face.

Grillby waited until your emotions were….mostly under control before he signed, “_Giving someone a free meal means they’re more likely to come back, and more likely to spend more money.”_

“Sneaky,” you shot back with a soft laugh. “Still, you deal with Sans _and_ Red on a daily basis…you must be a saint or something.”

Grillby laughed, mouth splitting into a grin. “_Also…any family of Sans is family of mine, my dear.”_

You smiled warmly at him, “Thanks, Grillby.”

He nodded, and headed off to serve some other diners, and as you gathered the bags you processed what he said. Family. The idea of the boys thinking of you as family made your eyes misty and you blinked rapidly to keep your tears at bay. It had been a long time since you last felt like you had a family…and you could easily see yourself calling the skeletons your family.


	31. Chapter 31

You gathered up the to-go bag’s, nudging your passenger side door closed before heading towards the door. You’d stopped by Muffet’s to get something for Stretch, knowing that he preferred sweets over greasy foods. When you had tried to text Papyrus, Edge, or Blue asking if they wanted you to pick up anything on your way back, you got no response.

A touch surprising, but they were never ones to be glued to their phones anyways.

You got them snacks anyways, just in case.

As you entered the house, you heard bickering. Not abnormal. Hell, you barely processed it as you removed your jacket and took off your shoes. It continued the same, none of them seemed to notice you as you walked over and placed the baggies on the table. The conversation ended abruptly, which you were more than okay with. Less bickering was always a good thing.

A yawn escaped you, and you glanced over at Sans.

“Grillby says…” you trailed off, counting eight skeletons instead of six. You checked the time. Well, past the time that Sans had told you. When you had tried to leave, the Guard Dogs had roped you into their poker game.

Blue jumped up, placing a hand on your back, “WELCOME HOME! YOU MUST BE EXHAUSTED, DON’T WORRY ABOUT THESE TWO.”

He tried to usher you towards your bedroom, but when you met the gaze of one of the newer skeletons, you stopped. There was something familiar about him, and not the usual familiarity of seeing different versions of the same skeleton. He perked up immediately as well.

“Rus?” you blurted out, surprised.

Rus grinned at you, “hey darlin’, funny seeing you here.”

You snorted, “ah, I’d say the same thing, but I should’ve realized it a lot sooner.”

“figured out i’m….’ related’ to these ragtag bunch of dorks?” he said, stepping closer and tucking his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah, but they’re my dorks, so be nice,” you joked back, and he shook his head, chuckling.

“y’ know, darlin’, i never did get your number…or i would’ a called.”

“WAIT. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” an unfamiliar demanded, and you glanced over to the unnamed skeleton glaring up at his brother from where he sat on the couch. 

“WE SHOULD PROPERLY INTRODUCE YOU!” Papyrus jumped forward, placing a hand on your shoulder and subtly pulling you away from Rus. He said your name before gesturing towards the other two, “THIS IS MUTT AND BLACK….OUR COUSINS!”

You smiled faintly, “Nice to officially meet you two.”

“CHARMED,” Black said a bit tersely before standing up and adjusting his fitted jacket. There was a tense moment of silence before he glared over at Sans. “WHEN WERE YOU IDIOTS GOING TO INFORM US THAT OUR SOULMATE WAS LIVING IN THIS STARS-DAMNED HOUSE? HM? OR WERE YOU PLANNING ON KEEPING US IN THE DARK?”

Soulmate?

You blinked in surprise, thinking that he was just confused about something. Still, the fact that both Blue and Papyrus tensed and you saw sweat break out along Red’s forehead, you knew there was something more.

“Soulmate?” you asked, “Who?”

Rus’ brow bone raised slightly, “aw, you didn’t feel the same connection when we first met, darlin’?” 

“don’t call her ‘darlin’ you flea-ridden mongrel,” Red snapped, standing up and glaring at the other skeleton. You instantly started regretting coming into the house as the tension in the room flew up. Rus’ face shifted from friendly openness to a false tense smile. 

“Red, it’s okay. Let’s all just calm down a little bit,” you suggested, holding up your hands.

You were promptly ignored.

“how bout you sit down lil’ red,” Rus shot back.

“who t’ fuck ya callin’ lil?” Red snarled.

Black held up a hand towards his brother and Rus backed down instantly, “YES, BROTHER, DON’T INSULT RED LIKE THAT. IF ANYONE IS LITTLE, IT’S BABY BLUE OVER THERE.”

That just unleashed the floodgates and you saw first hand that there were a lot more hate and bitter feelings than you had initially believed. Before you could even react, Rus and Stretch were up in each other’s business as Blue and Black shouted at each other. Edge and Red were bickering with each other, and Papyrus was begging everyone to calm down. Sans had his head in his hands.

You inhaled deeply before shouting, “OKAY! STRESS IS BAD FOR THE BABY, SO IF YOU ALL DON’T SHUT UP, YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.”

That shut up everyone up immediately.

Rus’ eyes snapped to your stomach instantly, and you saw the gears turning in Black’s head. It was Rus who spoke up finally, “yer…pregnant? huh, …i didn’t think skeletons and humans could…do that?”

He glanced at the others as if confirming that his theory was wrong. You shook your head immediately, “I haven’t- it’s my exes,” you explained quickly.

Rus’ face shifted slightly, and he hummed in thought.

“Why the face?” you grumbled.

“s’ my face?? what about it?” he asked, reaching up and touching his face. 

“You look like you’re …putting pieces together?” you gestured vaguely at him. 

“one night and you can tell so much about me?” he teased, and you immediately could sense the others tensing and looking at you. 

“Uh…it’s just really similar to how Red and Stretch look when they’re figuring shit out- anyways uh, could someone tell me what’s going on because I’m confused. What’s this about soulmate shit?” you asked, quickly switching the conversation away from you and Rus.

No one said anything immediately. You tried to meet the other skeletons’ gaze, but they all suddenly found everything else much more interesting. Red looked pissed as all hell, hands fisted in his jacket pockets and near grinding his teeth. 

Rus leaned back and huffed out a laugh.

“UGH. FINE. SOULMATES ARE EXACTLY WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE. TWO SOULS THAT RESONATE WITH EACH OTHER. HUMANS ARE IGNORANT WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR OWN SOUL SO I COMPLETELY GET THAT YOU WOULDN’T RECOGNIZED A SOULMATE UNLESS YOU WERE BONDED TO THEM. I’M ASSUMING BY YOUR OWN IGNORANCE OF WHAT A SOULMATE IS, MEANS THAT THESE IMBECILES HAVE NEGLECTED TO INFORM YOU THAT WE ARE YOUR SOULMATES. ALL OF US,” Black spoke up, being the only one who would meet your gaze. You just felt even more confused as you listened to his short speech. 

They were all your soulmates? You’d known them for years, and they knew that you were their soulmates, but they didn’t say anything? Why didn’t they say anything? Was the only reason they wanted anything to do with you just because of a bond that you couldn’t even feel? Thoughts raced through your mind before you whirled towards Rus.

“Why didn’t  _ you _ say anything?” you asked, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. The smug look on his face was wiped off immediately, and he blinked down at you. The only way you could explain his face was just pure confusion.

“I??? Did???”

You paused, thinking back to that night, and then shook your head. “Oh…I guess….I thought you were being…nevermind.” You turned to the others, “Why did none of you say anything?”

Instead of answering, Red gestured angrily towards Rus, “what t’ hell d’ya two keep mentionin’. ya two know each other?”

“yeah-“

“Not really,” you interrupted, “Met once or twice.”

“we had s-“

You slapped your hand over his mouth, “Not really.”

Mirth entered his eyes, and he reached up to grasp your wrist lightly, “nyehehe….come on darlin’. i probably know you a lot better than the others do.”

“Seriously doubt that,” you replied back, pulling your wrist out of his grip.

“it has been a while, but i’m pretty sure i could still make you-“ 

Red teleported in between you and Rus and shoved the latter away, in a blink Rus was behind you instead. His hands rested gently on your shoulders, massaging them lightly, he tutted at Red. “be careful around my pregnant mate.”

“s’no way she’s yer anythin’!” Red snarled but made no move to get you away from Rus.

You felt irritation bubbling faster than ever before.

“Back Off Of My Date-Mate, Mutt,” Blue demanded, straightening up and putting as much authority as he could into his words.

“OH! THIS IS THE HUMAN YOU COPULATED WITH THAT HAD YOU SO UPSET WHEN SHE WASN’T THERE WHEN YOU WOKE,” Black interrupted whatever response Rus had.

You felt your face grow unbearably hot. Anger and embarrassment mixing together. Especially since now, all the other skeletons were staring at you.

“OKAY! FINE! I HAD SEX WITH HIM AFTER FRISK, AND I BROKE UP WHEN I WENT TO MUFFET’S ONE NIGHT TO GET WASTED. HAPPY?” you snapped.

“you weren’t wasted. i don’t sleep with wasted women,” Rus pointed out, voice completely serious.

“I know. I said I went to get wasted not that I did,” you snapped, jerking out of his grip.

“YOU SLEPT WITH THIS PIECE OF SHIT?” Red shouted.

“ENOUGH!” you shouted, “Deal with your own bullshit! I don’t want to hear it! I’m going to my room, and I better not hear a damn thing from any of you! Got it?”

You were furious, upset, embarrassed.

You’d be apologetic later, but you were just…this was too much. Today was not good. You just wanted to be alone. You felt Rus touch your back lightly, but it was just too much, and you straightened your shoulders and left the living room. 

After closing your door as quietly as you could manage, you striped from your clothes pulled on the most comfortable thing you could and climbed into bed. You didn’t know how long it took to fall asleep, you just knew that you had angrily cried a few times, but when you woke up both Egg and Doomfanger were curled up near your stomach.

There was also a glass of water, and some Oreos left on your bedside table.

You were still mad at them…and you had to get all your thoughts in order about the whole soulmate thing, the whole bullshit about them calling you ‘theirs’ even though none of them had  _ any _ sort of claim on you.

Why couldn’t anything be easy?


	32. Chapter 32

You were probably a bit irrationally irritated with the boys for the next few days. Or maybe it was rational? You weren’t even sure anymore. All you knew was that day had just been a massive mess of emotions full of highs and lows that just screwed with your feelings and left you feeling like garbage at the end of the day. You couldn’t even tell if the emotional turmoil was partially due to your pregnancy or if that was how you would’ve reacted typically.

Everything was a mess.

Thankfully, you had a week of work coming up that you could throw yourself into. Not worrying about anything beyond your health, work, and responding to the occasional legal email.

Occasionally, you did find yourself thinking about that day. Moreso beating yourself up about the fact that you hadn’t realized that Rus was this ‘Mutt’ that the brothers kept mentioning. In your defence, you didn’t want to just automatically assume that every skeleton you saw was related to the brothers you saw….and thinking about if there were more duplicates out there only made your head hurt.

Surely someone would’ve mentioned others at some point or another, right?

You didn’t linger too long on those thoughts, however.

Instead, you stared at the walls of your bedroom, chewing your lip and debating how you wanted to decorate the nursery. You were almost halfway through the pregnancy, and even if you thought that the next twenty-ish weeks would take forever, you knew at the same time that if you kept putting it off, the baby would be here. You’d have nowhere to put them. 

You were settled on your bed notebook on your lap with a rough sketch of the nursery room. Tapping your pencil against the page softly as you tried to envision a space for the future baby bones. You could hear the others murmuring out in the living room, there was an undertone of aggression since Rus and Black were back over. Apparently, they decided suddenly that they wanted to spend more time with their family.

Somehow…you doubted that.

You turned your focus back to the notebook, blocking out some spaces for furniture and then gave up. Instead, you turned your gaze to the walls once again. Should you bother painting them? Or just keep them white?

You glanced up at the ceiling and paused.

Maybe…maybe a night sky theme? You did buy those stars for the baby’s mobile back during Gyftmas. That would be cute! You could paint the ceiling black and get glow in the dark paint to make little stars and buy those sticky-backed glow in the dark stars to make constellations. Maybe Sans could help pick a good star map? 

You spent the next few days sketching ideas into the notebook and scribbling down your thoughts. You were finding yourself becoming a bit more scatterbrained than usual. It was a symptom of pregnancy, according to your doctor, at least. It irritated you to no end regardless of whether it was a symptom of the pregnancy or not.

The next time Rus and Black came over, you were squirrelled away in your room, but you wanted to get some measurements of the nursery. Toriel offered to take you shopping for baby furniture on your next day off, and with her large minivan, you hoped that you could get everything you needed in one trip. Your savings would be hurting a bit if you did, but with your cheap rent from the skeletons, you had a bit extra in your savings than usual anyways.

It was nice not being as strapped for money as you had been when you were still dating Chad.

You couldn’t find your notebook anywhere, which made you a touch grumpy, but you could just input the numbers into your phone to save them for the weekend.

With as much stealth as you could muster, you strode out of your room and quickly down the hall, trying to look like you weren’t sneaking but also trying as hard as you could not make excessive noise. No one called out to you, so you called it a success.

You’d talk to them eventually…but thinking about it still made you too mad.

You opened the door to the nursery and was completely surprised to find Rus standing on a stool with a pencil in hand. He twisted slightly to see who entered and then froze. Your gazes locked for a second, and then he awkwardly chuckled. “uh…hey…darlin’ …what’re you doing?”

“I could ask you the same thing?” you said, stepping into the room and tearing your gaze from him to examine what he was doing. There was a faint, barely there, sketch on the wall of a forest scene. Your notebook was tucked under one of his arms.

“nyeh he he…” he glanced away, “i…found your notebook. thought id give ya some help with it…decided to sketch it first thought just in case you didn’t like it or didn’t want me to help out. the, uh, the others don’t really got the artistic touch, yknow? sorry if you don’t …don’t like it.”

It wasn’t  _ quite _ what you envisioned, but you knew that it would probably never be exactly what you thought it would be. It...you were touched that he had done this. “You didn’t need to do this.”

Rus shrugged a shoulder and said, “had nothin’ better to do. don’t care bout the drama out there.”

You didn’t have anything to say immediately to that, and the two of you fell into a somewhat awkward silence. Rus stepped down from the stool and nudged it towards you. You didn’t know what he meant by that, and he didn’t clarify out loud.

A beat passed, and then he stopped fiddling with his pencil, “did you really not know that we’re all your soulmates?”

You shook your head, and he hummed to himself a contemplative look crossing his face.

“is that why you’re avoiding them?” Rus asked quietly, “cus they think that’s why you’re avoiding them….why are ya avoiding them?”

You huffed angrily, “I’m not avoiding them.”

Rus wisely didn’t choose to call you out on that, but instead just gave you a brief look before turning back to the wall and continuing to sketch.

“There’s …a lot of reasons why I’m…taking some time to be by myself,” you worded carefully.

“so…the whole soulmate thing doesn’t bother you then?”

You hesitated and then exhaled slowly. Instead of answering right away, you pulled the stool close to another wall and sat down on it, allowing yourself to lean against the wall. “I mean, I’m…dating Blue? And I have a date with Red coming up already so…the fact that I’m all your guys’ soulmate is kinda…relieving in a way. Just kinda wish they’d told me sooner, so I didn’t feel like this was all more complicated than it is.”

Rus didn’t say anything, just nodded in response. The two of you didn’t say anything more, and you just watched him sketch on the wall. He’d occasionally glance at you after sketching an aspect of the scene as if judging if you liked it or not. You didn’t know what he found when he looked back at you, but sometimes he’d stop and erase everything he just worked on and other times he’d nod and return to what he was doing.

Honestly, he was only a touch harder to read than Stretch.

Sans was still much harder to read to you.

As the day stretched on this way, you were kinda relieved that he didn’t push the issue. A few of the others would’ve tried to carry on the conversation to get an answer, and you would’ve worked through your thoughts with them. Though sometimes you needed that sort of conversation but today you just didn’t want it.

Black opened the door, not seeing you immediately. “IT IS TIME TO GO, BROTHER.”

“Hey, Black,” you greeted, and his head snapped towards you.

For a moment, you thought he was glaring at you. Still, then you realized it was just like Blue’s intense eye contact along with Edge’s overall intensity. He was just looking at you, and you wondered how terrifying his glare could be. Or if he would glare at people he was pissed with?

Black strode over and extended a hand towards you.

You blinked before slowly placing your hand in his, and he helped you to your feet. As soon as you were upright again, he pulled out his phone and thrust it towards you. “WE SHOULD EXCHANGE INFORMATION JUST IN CASE THERE IS AN EMERGENCY,” he informed you, voice clipped and straight to the point.

You shrugged slightly and took his phone to put your number in it. If they were going to be around more often, then you might as well. Once you handed Black’s phone over, you felt a gentle bump against your arm and glanced over to see Rus holding out his phone. Without asking or questioning, you took the phone and put your number on it as well.

Black turned and strode quickly from the room without another word, and you quirked your eyebrow up at that.

Rus bumped his elbow into your arm, “aw, he likes you.”

He leaned down and nuzzled the top of your head with his forehead briefly, “send me a message when you wanna finish the wall.”

Without another word, he disappeared from the room, leaving you feeling a bit flustered.


	33. Chapter 33

After a week of nearly completely avoiding the others, you were getting fed up with yourself. There was the constant back and forth of emotions of self-pity and self-resentment which gave you whiplash. You could have blamed them for letting it carry on this long, but you were your own person and when you got it into your head to avoid someone you really did.

Besides, Blue had attempted to speak to you a few times but it had always been while you were rushing to work and you had promised to speak to him about it later.

Always later.

Enough was enough, however.

You were supposed to be this intelligent, mature woman but you were creeping around the house like you were a teenager who was waiting to get caught for something they did.

Maybe you should just talk to them about it one at a time? No…that’d take forever, and whoever you approached first would probably mention it to the others. That would spark the question of ‘why did she go to x instead of me first?’ and you didn’t want to deal with that either. 

Ahhhh! This was so damn stressful, and it was all utterly your own issue that you created.

You could hear them quietly chatting in the kitchen as it was the weekly movie night. This was the best night to fix this. Talk things through, then go watch a movie and cuddle with them.

If they wanted to.

You had been avoiding them after all.

With a deep inhale, you opened your bedroom door. Egg darted past you, hearing the sound of crinkly bags calling her.

You were tense as you stepped around the corner, revealing yourself to those in the kitchen. They all lapsed briefly into silence before Blue grinned hesitantly at you. “ARE YOU JOINING US FOR MOVIE NIGHT?” he asked, and you could hear another question beneath what he said.

“Uh…if you’d let me? But..first, um…” you fidgeted awkwardly, “I have some questions.”

“ABOUT THE SOULMATE DEBACLE?” Edge asked stiffly, “TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH.”

“I know, I know,” you muttered, “It’s kinda overwhelming, don’t you think?”

A few of the skeletons nodded faintly, and you scratched at your arm, glancing away briefly before looking back at them. This was so damn awkward. They were all waiting for you to speak, not doing anything more to prepare for the movie night. 

Well, …maybe you should clear the air about why you were upset first and then ask questions? You exhaled and glanced up at them. 

“I’m not…really…. _ upset _ that you guys are my…uh…’soulmates’. I mean- I’m upset about how….how I found out and how  _ long _ it took you guys to tell me but I was also pissed because of how you guys were all acting like I wasn’t there, and how all of that went down. It was just…a lot,” you muttered looking away from them to study the counter.

“WE DIDN’T MEAN TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THAT,” Blue said quickly, fiddling with his bandana, “I DIDN’T MEAN TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE THAT. I’M SORRY…”

“yeah, sweetheart, s’just that mutt n’ black can really get under our skin. m’sorry too for what it’s worth,” Red added, leaning against the counter. You looking up to see them all either avoiding eye contact with you or trying to catch your gaze to give you a sincere apologetic look.

You exhaled softly, “So long as you don’t let your own personal grudges get in the way like that again, it’s fine…uh, anyways…about…the um, whole soulmate thing? Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

Red crossed his arms, “ _ i _ wanted to, but somebody didn’ wanna stress ya out.”

He gave Sans a pointed look, who shrunk into his hoodie quietly.

You felt yourself relax a bit at that, “I get that…but I would’ve been happier to know than not know, yknow?”

The guys nod in agreement, seeming varying degrees of relief to almost guilt.

“Uh…so…how…how long have you guys known? Did you guys know right when we met or was it a while? I can’t tell either way,” you started off pretty strong, but you started muttering at the end, not wanting to offend them. They all seemed to know, so you felt like the odd one out in this scenario. You also felt oddly…singled out right now and you couldn’t really explain why.

“that’s because you’re not that’s because you're not a mage or monster. you’ve never seen your soul either, right?” Sans spoke up, and you suddenly realized just how long it had been since you last spoke to him. It made you feel a quick flash of guilt. There was so much happening in your life that you had…well you hadn’t  _ forgotten _ Sans, but it felt like he hadn’t sought you out either making it so neither of you had spent time together.

Stretch shrugged, and returned to preparing the snacks for the movie night, “it’s been a subject we’ve been discussing for a while.”

“How long is a while?” you asked, leaning against the kitchen island. The others seemed to relax then, returning to idly preparing the various food and drinks that they had been before you entered the kitchen. 

“the gyftmas party we met you at,” Sans said, not meeting your gaze when you looked over at him.

“That’s…a long ass time, you guys,” you pointed out, trying to meet most of their eyes. Only a few met your gaze. 

You were quiet for a moment, watching them shift awkwardly. A thought sprung into your mind, and you looked between Edge and Sans. “So…you all want to date me?”

A faint embarrassed blush dusted Edge’s cheeks, and he looked away sharply, but there was a small, almost imperceivable nod from him. Sans’ face blushed more, and he nodded firmly.

You smacked the counter, a sudden giddiness washing over you. “Fuck yeah! Chara owes me 25G.”

The skeletons looked up at you in stunned surprise as you pulled out your phone.

“WHAT?” Edge demanded, confusion overriding his quiet embarrassment.

“Chara said that they bet you all would confess to me before valentine’s day and I totally forgot!” you said cheerfully, messaging said friend to inform them of your soon to be 25G richer self. You missed the skeletons glancing between each other.

“so…you kinda knew?” Stretch asked confusion written on his face when you looked back up.

“Chara didn’t so much say but implied that you guys all had feelings for me. I didn’t really know the whole….soulmate thing,” you gestured vaguely at them before tucking your phone into your pocket again. “Uh…anyways, so what movie are we watching?”

Normalcy quickly overrode any strange feelings as the skeletons, and you finished prepping for movie night. Everyone settled onto the couch, with you snuggled up next to Blue, with Red’s head in your lap as he dozed through the entire movie. By the end of it, you had almost forgotten everything that had happened before, but Blue reminded you as Sans went to put in the sequel.

“I KNOW I DON’T WANT TO PRESSURE YOU BUT YOU DIDN’T REALLY...GIVE AN OPINION ABOUT THE WHOLE SOULMATE THING...” he said, seeming a bit hesitant. “I KNOW YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD BE OPEN TO DATING MYSELF AND RED BUT…”

You kept your eyes locked on Red’s skull where you were tracing minute divots and bumps with your fingers. “I think I’d want more information about the whole soulmate thing first before I commit to anything,” you said softly, “but tonight’s not that night…another day?”

You were tired and emotionally drained, honestly, and you didn’t know if you could handle a science-magic lesson on top of everything else.

“y’know where to find me,” Sans spoke up, “whenever you’re ready.”

You smiled softly at him, and he returned it before turning to play the next Mettaton movie. A quiet groan came from Blue, who had apparently lost the coin flip of Mettaton vs Napstaton movie watching for the night. You patted his knee lightly, and he threaded his fingers in your own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all are staying safe during the current events <3


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOPS! Sorry everyone! I thought today was Friday. This whole isolation thing is...confusing me. I'm normally really bad at knowing the days of the week already but with my entire family being home I don't know what day it is half the time now.
> 
> A day late is better than never, however!

Your back  _ ached _ . Your legs  _ ached _ . It was awful. 

Baths, heat packs, and stretching were becoming such frequents in your life that you couldn’t really remember a day without getting home from work to take a bath anymore. Or lying down to sleep at night with a large heat back draped over your lower back. Even if it made you overheat, you preferred that to the aching sensation.

The boys took notice incredibly quickly. You could tell they researched what symptoms would be coming up during your pregnancy because without even saying anything, they seemed to know what to do.

After a particularly long day at work, all you wanted to do was sink into a nice hot bath. However, the moment you stepped into the house, Papyrus was standing with his hands on his hips.

“WELCOME HOME!” he greeted you, his smile full and happy. You returned it, bending awkwardly to try to take off your shoes. You were going to have to start wearing slip-on shoes instead of sneakers. There was probably some sort of pregnancy shoe, right? Anything to help with your achy legs. Papyrus placed a hand on your shoulder, which drew your attention back up to him as he tutted at you before guiding you over to the couch. “ALLOW ME.”

You gave him an odd look but decided not to question it. 

As you sat down, you found yourself slouching backwards to try to relieve the pressure on your lower back. Papyrus crouched down and removed your shoes for you. There was a relief to having no shoes on, and you sighed in relief.

As you opened your mouth to thank him, he shifted in his spot before picking up your foot again. Without saying anything, he began to massage your aching feet, and you felt your eyes flutter shut happily. Regardless of how you felt about your feet being touched, there was an almost instant relief as he kneaded away the ache methodically.

How did he even know how to massage humans? He was a skeleton? No flesh, just bone. Did he research it just for your sake? That thought almost made you tear up.

After working on both of your feet, he gently placed them both flat to the ground. You blinked open your eyes, and he grinned at you. “I HOPE I DID THAT RIGHT! I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOUTUBE VIDEOS ON HOW TO MASSAGE.”

You smiled at him, “I was wondering…thank you, Paps. That was really nice.”

“I CAN ALSO MASSAGE YOUR BACK, IF YOU’D LIKE? SANS MENTIONED THAT YOUR BACK WOULD MOST LIKELY BE ACHING FOR THE NEXT WHILE.”

Your smile softened even more…if that was possible. Though you were hesitant to ask him to massage your back as well, he already massaged your feet…

Papyrus waved both his hands, “I WILL GET A CHAIR FOR YOU TO SIT ON. I READ THAT YOU SHOULDN’T LIE ON YOUR STOMACH WHEN YOUR PREGNANT.”

“That’s a myth, it’s fine just kinda uncomfortable,” you reassured him….knowing that if he saw you lying on your stomach, he’d freak out that the baby was being squished. “I talked to my doctor about that.”

“PHEW. THANK THE STARS. ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT THEN! BUT STILL, I ONLY SAW VIDEOS WHERE THE LADY WAS SITTING BACKWARDS ON A CHAIR GETTING A MASSAGE,” he admitted. Before you could ask him what else he was worried about, he darted into the kitchen and retrieved a chair. He gestured at it with the grandeur more suited to a throne. You found yourself giggling at his antics before you got up.

It couldn’t hurt.

You settled down into the chair, crossing your arms over the back and resting your chin on your arms. Papyrus got to work, and you instantly started melting against the back of the chair. Occasional happy hums, sighs, or grunts came from you, especially as he worked on more tense areas of your lower back.

Unlike with your feet, he chattered away merrily as he worked on your back. About his job, Sans, the others, about your pregnancy, about his friends, future plans. Everything that came to mind he said, and you found your replies becoming less and less verbal as he worked.

Then you opened your eyes to a dark room, soft fabric cuddled around you, and the purring of two cats.

You shifted, a happy noise leaving your mouth as you realized there weren’t any lingering aches in your muscles.

There was something large cuddled around you, and for a second, you thought someone was in your bed with you. However, upon further inspection, you realized it was just a giant pregnancy pillow shaped like a ‘U.’ It was  _ huge _ and super comfortable to nestle into. Doomfanger and Egg seemed to love it just as much as you, as both were cuddled between you and the pillow. 

As you reached over to turn on your bedside lamp, your fingers brushed something else that crinkled. You retracted your hand and jumped slightly in fright, but when nothing happened, you reached out again. This time you found the switch, and you discovered what had startled you.

It was a package of bath goodies, alongside some of your favourite snacks ever.

There was a post-it note conversation posted to the side of the package of bath stuff, and you peeled it off to read the full thing.

_ the pillow came in today was gunna give it to you but you were sleeping _

_ she has pillows she needs bath shit _

_ comfort isn’t limited red _

_ BOTH ARE EXCELLENT GIFTS, BUT I BROUGHT YOU YOUR FAVOURITE SNACKS! HAVING SNACKS AFTER A BAD WEEK IS GREAT. _

_ thought you didn’t like junk food _

_ ONLY WHEN YOU GUZZLE IT BACK LIKE YOU DO. _

The post-it notes went on and on like that varying between Stretch, Red, and Blue. With the occasional addition of Edge, Sans, and Papyrus.

Their handwriting was very similar to each other, but you could tell just by how they wrote who was who.

You giggled to yourself as you placed the post-it note chain to the side.

Doomfanger grumped that you were giggling, and stretched before coming to lay right beside your head, placing his chin on your forehead and flopping an arm over your eyes. As if to say, ‘go back to bed.’ You smiled fondly, reaching up and blindly scratching him behind the ear. His purring grew louder, and it only got louder as Egg shifted to snuggle up beside him.

The quiet night carried your thoughts back towards the brothers.

They were all incredibly sweet…and they had all always been there for you in their own way. Especially after Chad had cheated on you. They’d been there for you through your grief with your mother. You could see them being there for you through thick and thin for…

You hesitated on that next word, last time you thought it….the situation had only resulted in disaster. What if by thinking it…you jinxed the situation? 

No.

They were your soulmates…if…if that was what you thought it meant, then they wouldn’t leave you…right?

You sat up, ignoring the indignant sounds of the two cats being disturbed.

You reached for your phone, scrolling to find Sans’ name and sent him a text.

** You 11:24 PM:  ** _ You up? _

** sans 11:24 PM:  ** _ yup whats up? _

** You 11:24 PM:  ** _ can we talk? _

** sans 11:24 PM:  ** _ in the backyard _

You blinked at that, it was getting warmer out but you didn’t think he’d be outside. You’d more expected him to be sleeping or just…vibing somewhere, honestly. Though, you didn’t let yourself think too hard on it. Sans was an enigma, and you climbed out of your bed. Pulling on your housecoat and heading towards the backyard. You quietly opened the door and stepped out. Thankfully, it was a warmer night than normal. You could see the hammock in the back corner gently swinging, and so you shuffled over.

Sans perked his head up as you got closer, and he waved lazily at you, a gentle smile on his ever smiley face.

“heya. what’s up?”

“I…wanted to know about the whole soulmate thing,” you admitted quietly, “What does it…involve?”

He shifted slightly and gestured to the hammock. You sat down and shifted until you were lying down, facing him, your legs against his side and his against yours. Both of you were quiet, and you moved your gaze up to the stars above. Ah. No wonder he was out here, it was a clear day.

“souls are…complex things,” Sans started, “monsters are just our souls and dust. humans are stuff and their souls. all that stuff gets in the way of you really knowing or feeling your soul.”

“Is it…like a metaphorical soul? Or?” you asked, keeping your gaze on the stars.

“nope. actual thing.”

“Why can’t I see it?”

He was quiet for a moment, “it’s the culmination of your entire being, and can only be brought forth by a monster. but that’s illegal for monsters to do at the moment. monsters souls can only be seen when they die or during certain events…uh, but we are more…attuned with our souls. that’s why we feel so much. yknow?”

You nodded slowly, humming that you were following.

“soulmates are just two souls that resonate with each other. like magnets, dunno why they do it but they do. they like being near each other, and they can help regulate the other souls emotions. like if a soul is sad, the other can help ease the sadness just by being around,” he explained, gesturing lazily as he did. Your gaze shifted from the stars to watch him for a moment before returning to look at the stars.

“Why do I have so many soulmates? Every piece of media that portrays soulmates there is always only one other person…” you said.

He was quiet for a while before sighing, “a result of different universes collapsing into each other. you would’ve only had one soulmate per universe, but when the universes collided with each other? it most likely took every soulmate that you had and instead of choosing one at random it just allowed for all of us to continue being your soulmate. funky stuff, yeah?”

“Funky,” you agreed, and after a while of being silent, you looked over at him, “what if I only want to date one of you? Will….will the others be….will it hurt the others?”

Sans shook his head, “there’s other humans who have monster soulmates, and they only choose a few because of personality stuff. the monsters just…move on typically. it hurts from what i’ve heard but just like a break-up. there’s some grillby’s out there who have separate significant others than their soulmate. you just do what feels right to you, kiddo, and we’ll be ok. don’t wanna stress you out more than you already are. even if you choose one, or all of us? we’ll be here for you. none of us are petty enough to go back on a promise to help you because you don’t want to smooch us.”

You fiddled with your sleeve quietly staring up at the stars.

“Thanks, Sans,” you murmured, feeling a lot better about the situation. Honestly, even if you didn’t know what you wanted to do quite yet…it felt better knowing that there wasn’t a wrong answer when it came to this.

Just…follow your SOUL.

Sans nodded in response before sitting up, “don’t you have an appointment in the morning.”

“Oh, yeah…” you stretched slightly, “but I’ve been sleeping since I got home from work and don’t feel too tired right now.”

“astronomy lesson then?” he joked, and you nodded. He chuckled before lying back down in the hammock, light magic surrounded it and it started rocking slightly. Without hesitation, he started talking about everything he knew about the stars and space, excited but keeping his voice as even and quiet as possible. You found yourself being lulled to sleep, a soft smile on your face.

You’d talk to them all tomorrow after your appointment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Are people interested in a sex reveal for the baby next chapter? Reader is at the point in her pregnancy that she can be informed of the sex of her baby (keep in mind that this is just a sex reveal to y'all. I don't have any plans for Reader to do a 'gender reveal party' or anything like that.)
> 
> Go here to vote! https://www.strawpoll.me/19639499
> 
> If yes, then it will be an extra chapter, if not we will carry along like I originally planned.
> 
> <3


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sex reveal chapter!~ If you don't want the sex revealed, feel free to skip this chapter! If not, continue reading!

You stared down at the ultrasound photos once again, looking at the tiny black and white being in the photo. They had gone from your little bean to an actual child. You stroked a finger over the surface of the photos, you still weren’t sure your feelings on everything. There was so much to unpack from the past nearly 5 months.

The technician had asked you whether you wanted to know the sex of the baby, and you said sure! You knew that no matter what the sex of the baby was, you’d support them through anything and everything. Spending years dating Frisk, who identified as agender, and being friends with Chara, who identified as non-binary, not to mention all the other influences in your life, just eradicated any hang-ups on gender that you may have had.

The technician had shifted the ultrasound probe around your stomach for a bit, occasionally taking a photo. With a smile, she had turned towards you and told you.

You smiled at the picture in your hands.

You found yourself quickly getting lost in your thoughts as you stared at the photo. Imagining, not the future for your kid, but instead...thinking about your own mother. Loneliness swelled around you at the reminder that she didn’t get to know you were having a kid…and you weren’t sure how you felt about that. You didn’t know how she would’ve reacted to the situation…and you knew that thinking about it would just make your chest hurt all the more.

There was nothing more heart-wrenching than thinking about what you couldn’t have, or know.

You placed the photo aside then, blinking back tears that were threatening to fall. There’d always be time to grieve for what you didn’t have later…but right now you had to go into work. Sao, taking a few deep breathes, you calmed yourself down.

Just take everything one step at a time. Soon, everything would be all right again. Soon.

The guys all knew that you had gone to the ob-gyn today, but you hadn’t really told them anything further. A few of them had offered to take time off work to take you, but you didn’t want to impose on their work time like that. No matter how many times they’d offer to go with you, you always declined. This was…your thing, and you didn’t know when you’d start thinking of it as anything _but_ that.

Besides, you had to head into work after anyways.

Which was exhausting as per-usual, exhausting not just your body but your mind as well. Turning it into mush as you near-stumbled into the house. A nice warm bath was calling your name, but you paused as you kicked off your shoes. Someone was baking.

Pie?

Blue poked his head out of the kitchen, beaming at you instantly. “WELCOME HOME!”

You blushed at the term of endearment, and he headed over to you, opening his arms silently asking for a hug. You didn’t have to be asked twice, and you hugged him, sighing happily as he rubbed your back. “HOW WAS WORK? THE APPOINTMENT?”

“Long, and good,” you replied, giving him a quick squeeze before stepping back. You needed to talk to him about...well…everything, and as you opened your mouth to ask if he had a second, another monster made their appearance.

Toriel smiled at you from the kitchen, “Welcome home,” she said warmly. It was a pleasant surprise, honestly, since you weren’t expecting her. You told her as much and she laughed softly into her paw, “I realized it had been a while since I had last seen the skeleton family outside of work-related context. Blue and I ran into each other, and he invited me over. Thought I’d make a few pies while I was here.”

“Don’t let Frisk know,” you teased, walking into the kitchen and peering over at the oven. Frisk had been getting homesick on their diplomatic tour, and you knew that it would be like rubbing salt in a wound if you texted them letting them know that you were eating their mother’s pie and they weren’t.

Blue and Toriel both picked up the conversation they were having before you arrived fairly quickly, but easily weaved you into the conversation so you didn’t feel left out. Toriel promised you before she left that she’d be in touch and reminded you that she was here to help you out with motherhood whenever you needed it.

She was gone sooner than you would’ve thought, as shortly after she left, the other skeletons started arriving home as well.

Though, all thoughts of Toriel went out the window as you went to get something out of your bag and found the ultrasound photos. Oh! Right! That had completely slipped your mind. You pulled out the photos, you hadn’t kept any of the previous ultrasound photos since the first bean one. You walked over to where the guys were getting themselves slices of Toriel’s pie and slapped the photos on the counter.

“Update on the bean, they are now less bean-shaped,” you announced.

Papyrus quickly scooped up the photos, making excited nyeh-heh-heh noises as he did so. Those closest to him moved closer to peer at them as well.

“I also found out the baby’s sex, if you want to know,” you added, sliding a plate towards the others as a hint to put some pie on there as well. Stretch obliged quietly as he leaned over his brother to see the photos as well. A few of the skeletons nodded, and you leaned against the counter, “A baby girl.”

They all looked at you with varying degrees of excitement visible on their faces, but you had a feeling they were all excited regardless. You smiled fondly at them.

Sans rubbed at his skull, “dunno if raising a female babybones will be any different than raising a male babybones? don’t think so since frisk n’ chara both didn’t identify as either ‘female’ or ‘male’ when they were younger…but we don’t exactly know much about human babies.”

You shook your head, “Not really? Just…give them lot’s of love, encouragement, that sort of thing?” you stabbed your fork into the pie filling, scooping up a bit. “Either way…I still feel very under-qualified for being a parent…” you murmured as you studied the pie.

Blue placed a hand on your upper back, “DON’T WORRY, WE’RE HERE TO HELP. SO IS TORIEL! I’M SURE ASGORE WILL BE WILLING, IF YOU WANT TO ASK HIM. FRISK AND CHARA, I KNOW, WILL BE THERE FOR YOU THROUGHOUT IT ALL AS WELL.”

“What’s that saying…it takes a village to raise a child?” you said, smiling warmly at Blue, “Thanks, Blue.”

He beamed back, rubbing your back lightly before removing his hand to take the photos from Papyrus to look at them. Stretch was quiet, studying the photos before looking over at you, “we’ve got plenty of parenthood books at the library if you wanna take a look or if you want me to bring some home for you.”

“I THINK WE’D ALL BENEFIT FROM READING UP ON PARENTHOOD,” Papryus pointed out, “WHILE I KNOW I WILL BE A NATURAL AT BEING A FATHER, IT WOULDN’T HURT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HUMAN BABYBONES.”

“My ob-gyn did suggest some prenatal classes and parenthood classes to me,” you explained, “but like Paps said, it wouldn’t hurt to learn more. Right? I’d appreciate it, Stretch, might have to pop in the next day I’m off.”

The conversation quickly shifted from your baby to the Papryi as babybones and what the Sanses remembered about raising babybones. It was amusing to hear and to watch the different Papyrus' reactions to their embarrassing stories. More importantly, it soothed your fears about...well a lot, actually. There were three monsters here already well versed with taking care of children, and the other three were at least passionate about helping. If you had any shortcomings as a mother...at least there were others there to pick up the slack, and while you didn't _want_ there to be slack, you couldn't help but feel like you were going to be inadequate at times.

Guess that was the benefit of having soulmates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the whole pandemic thing...it's kinda zapping my creative ability? I'm not sure if I'm just getting burnt out from this story or if it's the whole not being able to really do anything...but yknow.
> 
> I'm not going to give up on this story though (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧


	36. Chapter 36

You ran a hand over your stomach lightly.

There was so much in your life right now, but you refused to focus on anything more than what you had planned for the next week. The date with Red, work for the next couple days, a follow-up meeting with the lawyer about everything. Then you’d have to worry about a meeting with your lawyer, Chad, and his lawyer. Though, you quickly categorized that as something you’d have to worry about later.

Frisk was going to be coming back home soon, which was exciting. That wasn’t going to be for another two weeks, but you were still excited about that regardless.

Your father and step-mother hadn’t contacted you in a while, and…honestly? You were hoping that they were going to just completely forget you existed. That way, you wouldn’t have to worry about the eventual fallout or anything of the sort. If they didn’t know you existed, they wouldn’t bother you. Rationally, you knew it was only a matter of time before your father attempted to talk to you again, and you didn’t want to think about that at all.

Instead, you turned your attention down to the kettle that was bubbling. Tea, non-caffeinated for you and caffeinated for Blue. He was outside right now and had been since you had woken up a few hours again. Spring was really warming up now, feeling more like spring for the first time this year.

You stared out the window blankly, watching Blue as he worked quietly.

You needed to talk to Blue about everything that happened, but unlike yesterday when Toriel’s appearance had distracted you…today was distraction-free. Blue was the only other person off, so it was just you and him. You could hear him in the back yard listening to music quietly as he worked on de-winterizing the final parts of the yard.

Blue’s head perked up as you emerged from the house, a blanket wrapped around yourself to stave off the remaining chill of winter. He beamed at you instantly, dusting off his hands and leaning back onto his heels instead of his knees. “HELLO!”

“Hey,” you replied back warmly, stopping a foot away from him and crouching down beside him, “uh…do you have a moment?”

“FOR YOU? ALWAYS,” he said absolutely with a hundred percent conviction. Your smile grew a bit before you looked down at the garden instead of at him.

“I just wanted to apologize…I kinda…freaked out and didn’t really consider your feelings in the matter at all,” you murmured, fiddling with the blanket around your shoulders. You were too ashamed to look up at him right now, but you felt his hand rest on your back, rubbing your shoulders.

“YOU’VE GOT A LOT ON YOUR PLATE-“

“That doesn’t excuse me from ignoring your feelings, especially if we’re dating,” you interrupted him, and his hand stilled.

“IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER, I DIDN’T FEEL IGNORED. I KNEW YOU NEEDED SPACE, AND WHEN I DID TRY TO TALK TO YOU IT WAS TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I WAS THERE FOR YOU IF YOU NEEDED IT.”

You huffed through your nose, peeking up at him. He moved his hand to rest on your shoulder and squeezed gently, “I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF I EVER FEEL IGNORED! I READ UP A LOT ON POLYAMORY RELATIONSHIPS BACK WHEN WE FIGURED OUT WE WERE ALL SOULMATES WITH YOU. I DIDN’T WANT TO MESS ANYTHING UP IF I GOT THE CHANCE TO DATE YOU AND YOU WANTED TO DATE MULTIPLE PEOPLE.”

You sighed through your nose, “I should read that book...maybe then I’d stop messing up with relationship stuff.”

“When Have You Messed Up?” Blue asked, voice softening.

You waved a hand, “I was self-deprecating, just…nevermind. I should read up on polyamory.”

Blue gave you a look, waiting until you glanced up at him before speaking, “This Is My First Relationship…It’s Many Of The Others First As Well If You Date Them Too. We’ll Make Mistakes, But That’s Okay! As Long As We Talk About Them!”

That relaxed you a lot. It wasn’t your first relationship….but it did help calm your nerves about the situation. They were new to the whole polyamory thing, just as you were. Mistakes would be made, but the difference was that you all would do your best to talk about those mistakes. Make sure that everyone was on the same page. Actual communicate.

It was strange to think that something so simple could make your worries basically disappear.

You smiled at him before leaning over and kissing his cheek. “Thanks, Sans.”

Cyan blush dusted his cheeks, and he giggled happily, “THANK YOU!” he nuzzled your cheek in a version of a skeleton kiss. You laughed as well at the feeling. 

“Do you need any help?” you asked, gesturing towards the garden. He quickly shook his head and made a shooing motion.

“NOT AT THE MOMENT. I’M ACTUALLY JUST ABOUT TO CLEAN UP SO I CAN START DINNER. THANKS THOUGH!”

You kissed his head again before standing up, “Alright, I’ll be inside if you need any help with dinner.”

He nodded, but in such a way you knew he wouldn’t ask you to help. Those skeletons who did cook rarely wanted help. You couldn’t imagine the nightmare it would’ve been at the start when they all wanted to cook dinner nightly, but had to take turns. You respected their desire to have that as their personal chore.

You rubbed at your knees as you awkwardly got back to your feet. Your center of gravity had shifted recently since your belly was getting bigger, so it was still awkward standing and crouching down. You couldn’t even imagine how uncomfortable it was going to be once you were in your third trimester.

Just before you re-entered the house, you turned back to look at Blue. “You’re still okay with the whole polyamory thing…right?”

His head lifted, and he smiled reassuringly at you. “OF COURSE….THAT IS AS LONG AS IT’S NOT BLACK YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT DATING. I MIGHT HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT.”

You snorted, “Haven’t even thought about dating him. Barely know the guy after all.”

“GOOD,” he said, tone light, but you knew he was 100% serious about that.

You nodded, “So…you wouldn’t be opposed to me going out with Red tonight to Grillby’s for dinner?”

Blue gave you a look, “ON MY NIGHT TO COOK? GO ON EDGE’S NIGHT TO COOK!”

You giggled and nodded, “Alright, alright. I won’t insult you like that. Thanks, Blue.”

A smile returned to his face as he gave a final wave before you shut the back door. You passed the living room where Doomfanger and Egg were curled up on the cat post set up in front of one of the windows. They were on separate levels, surprising since Doomfanger seemed attached to sleeping as close to Egg as possible. Then again, Egg was on a small support, and you knew that Egg would’ve given Doomfanger a warning swat if he tried to cuddle with her.

You scratched both of their ears fondly, before heading into your bedroom. You texted Red as you flopped down onto your bed for a mid-afternoon nap.

** You 2:20 PM: ** _Tomorrow u + me @ Grillby’s? Get that date finally?_

Text sent, you placed your phone down and stretched out, cuddling up against the pregnancy pillow contently. You were continually getting more and more tired throughout the day with the extra weight, and you found yourself cat napping around the house the moment you were horizontal on something soft.

You placed your hands over your stomach.

You’d been feeling a weird…fluttering sensation inside your stomach, but no matter how you tried, you couldn’t feel it with your hands. So, maybe it was just your imagination, considering the technician did say that you should start to be able to feel the baby move around soon.

A small smile stretched over your lips.

Small victories felt more impactful than all the negative in your life…and you knew that if you weren’t surrounded by supportful people you, you wouldn’t be able to see the small things as victories.

Yet, here you were, happily patting your stomach excited about a potential date with one of your best friends, excited to eat a taco later tonight, and pumped to see Frisk after so long of them being out on business.

Things would get better, as you had people to catch you if you fell.

Your phone buzzed and you picked it up, peering at the message.

**Red 2:34 PM:** _you know it dollface ;)_


	37. Chapter 37

“yknow, in snowdin i once entered a pun contest. s’for the newspaper, so i entered 10 puns,” Red said, a sly grin on his face as he angled himself towards you better. You rose your eyebrow, wondering if he was going to tell you ten puns now.

“Did you win?” you asked, picking up a fry and popping it in your mouth.

“no pun in ten did.”

No…pun…intended.

You couldn’t stop the snort that came forth and quickly covered your face with a hand as you quietly giggled. “That was  _ awful _ ,” you accused, peering over at him to see him looking more pleased with himself than a cat that got the canary. He nudged your shoulder with a grin.

“hey, if yer laughin’ it ain’t that bad of a joke,” he pointed out his grin widening a bit more.

You giggled again, “Fair enough.”

There was a gentle fluttering in your stomach, barely noticeable, but you reached down and smoothed a hand over the bump and adjusted your shirt around it. Red’s eye lights followed the movement of your hand.

“how’s the baby bones doin?” he asked quietly, angling his body more fully towards you. You could tell it was a protective gesture, as he still didn’t like talking about your pregnancy out in public. Not that it was a secret at this point. Anyone who looked at you could tell that you were a few months pregnant.

“Great, last checkup went swimmingly,” you smiled at him, reaching over and squeezing his hand that was resting on the seat beside you. Hoping that it reassured any fears in his mind that made him ask the question. You picked up your drink only to discover it was empty.

“i’ll getcha another,” he said, plucking the cup from you and blinking away.

He appeared across Grillby’s at the counter, leaning against it as Grillby went to fill up your non-alcoholic drink of choice. 

Your hand smoothed over your baby bump again.

Things were starting to normalize again in the house. There wasn’t that weird awkwardness when talking with the guys, and you were starting to notice that you felt different around the skeletons than with others. There was an almost calming effect once you came home, no matter how exhaustingly frustrating a day had been. You could notice when the guys were irritable without even seeing them. The other day you had been able to just  _ know _ who was in the kitchen before you could see inside. 

It was…wild.

Red smiled over at you, winking in a way that made your cheeks flush slightly.

They were always there for you through thick and thin…and now you knew that it was unconditional. There were no strings attached. If you didn’t want to be with them romantically, then they would still be there for you simply because you were their soulmate.

Unfortunately, as he turned away, a rogue thought appeared in your mind, because you weren’t allowed to just accept things at face value.

Would the skeletons have offered to help you out after Chad cheated on you if it wasn’t for the fact that they were your soulmates? Were they only offering to help because you were their soulmate? Did they only care about your unborn child because you were their soulmate?

Fears that you would’ve dismissed any other moment, but in that second, they were all you cared about.

You didn’t even notice Red popping back into existence beside the table until he placed the drink in front of you and slid in beside you. His shoulder bumped into yours before he angled himself back towards you. Your eyes met his, and you saw him frown slightly.

“i leave for two secs and yer upset, wasswrong?”

“Do…you guys only want to help with the baby because you’re my soulmate?” you asked quietly, fiddling with the newly filled cup.

Red was quiet for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, “i dunno, babe? like are ya askin’ if i’d offer to help out if you weren’t? cus i dunno. never known you as anything but my soulmate. kinda an impossible question’.”

You sighed softly, “I know, it’s just…”

Red reached over and took your hand and squeezed, “i know a few of t’others would say yes right away but…i dunno bout myself.”

“Do you…care about the baby bones, or just me?” you asked, very quietly. You knew the question had a high chance of offending him. You could see, peering up at him that he was highly offended but trying not to let it show.

“i care bout them,” he insisted, “an’ i know that your all ‘bout being able to take care of t’kid by yourself but…yknow s’cool if…yknow…want the kid…to refer to us…me…as….yknow…dad…”

His voice slowly got quieter and quieter as he spoke, and when he finally said ‘Dad’ you were almost unsure if he actually said it or not. However, judging by the light sweat that broke along his forehead and the fact that he wasn’t looking at you…you were sure he  _ had _ just asked you if you would be opposed to letting your child refer to him as dad.

You burst into sobs, covering your face instantly.

“shit!” Red blurted out, reaching over and scooping an arm around you, “uh- grillbz, put it on sansy’s tab.”

Before you could blink, you felt the ground give out from beneath you, and when you opened your eyes, there was the rooftop from months ago beneath you. Red instantly ushered you to sit down on one of the lounge chairs and patted at his pockets. He produced a package of tissues, muttering thanks to his brother under his breath as he handed them to you. He sat down on the lounge chair beside you.

“forget i said anythin’,” Red muttered, “thought the hormones were supposed ta stop messing with you.”

“N-N-Not the-the hor-hormones,” you choked out, pressing a tissue to your eyes.

“oh…uh…then sorry that i…said that…” he muttered, “crossin’ boundaries n’shit, ya?”

You stopped wiping at your face and reached over to turn his head towards you. “No, no, no, that’s the sweetest fucking thing,” you insisted, before pressing your lips to his, smooching his mouth a few times. He started laughing and nuzzled back into the kisses, relaxing.

The kiss quickly became more heated, and you felt his hand rest on the side of your stomach when there was a solid thump against your stomach. Both of you paused, and Red removed his hand, staring down at your stomach.

“what the fuck?” he asked, slowly reaching out and touching your stomach again. You laughed and felt a hefty kick once again as he pressed slightly.

“That’s the first time the baby bones kicked! They’ve been kinda shifting and crap, but…” you smiled down at your stomach, peering up at Red once again. There wasn’t any movement for a while before he pressed his fingers into your stomach a bit, and the baby kicked. His eyes blinked into hearts, and you giggled at the sight. Reaching up to caress his cheek.

Without warning, he hooked an arm around you and ported you once again. This time right into Edge’s room. You saw Edge quickly hide something behind the chair he was sitting, and glare at his brother. Doomfanger hissed and swatted towards the two of you from his spot on the bed.

You went to say hello, and you could see Edge starting to get ready to berate his brother for invading his privacy. However, Red grabbed his brother's hand and pressed it to your stomach. It startled you both into silence, and it stretched over a period of a few minutes. Then Edge looked at his brother with a frustrated look over his face.

“WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME FEEL HER STOM-“ he stopped the second the baby bones kicked against his hand. His eyes going wide. “WHAT…WAS THAT?”

“The baby, they’ve got enough strength to start shifting around and kicking,” you said before explaining it a bit more scientifically. Knowing that Edge would prefer a lengthy explanation than taking it at face value.

For the next few minutes, both Edge and Red had hands on your stomach, staring at it with rapt attention as occasionally the baby would kick. Eventually, the kicks and shifts stopped, but the two kept their hands on your stomach. You laughed softly, placing your hands over top of theirs and gently removing their hands from your stomach. “She’s settled down now.”

Red’s eye lights were back to normal, and he turned towards his brother, “yknow what this means?”

“WHAT?”

“we were the first to feel the baby kick,” he said, a shit-eating grin on his face.

If you weren’t so fond of these dorks, you would’ve groaned at the fact that you could tell they were going to hold that over the others. 

Smug bastards.

You loved them for it.


	38. Chapter 38

It took less than a few hours before every skeleton had felt the baby kick and they were all estatic about it in various ways. Though, it didn’t escape your notice that Stretch seemed a bit werided out when he saw the warp of your stomach as the baby pressed against it. It was very subtle moments like that which had you wondering what was going through his head since he attempted to smooth his expression and his reactions.

You’d asked Blue about it, but he had said that if you wanted to know what was going through his brothers mind, you were going to have to ask Stretch.

Fair enough.

You wanted to borrow a book he’d recommended anyways, and you started climbing the stairs to the second floor. There wasn’t often a need for you to go upstairs beyond occasionally hanging out with Stretch in his bedroom to read, and you couldn’t remember the last time you had been up there.

Stretch’s room was still clean, no lingering scents of smoke left behind anymore. It smelt, instead, like sweet honey and musty old books. A warming smell that had you relaxing the moment Stretch opened the door for you and invited you in.

As you plopped down into the beanbag chair with the book in hand, you smiled over at him, “It’s going to get hard for me to get out of this in no time.”

“why’s that?” he asked, settling down on his bed with his own book, a finger resting between two pages.

“My center of gravity is going to be thrown way off,” you complained mildly opening your own book, “Baby bones here is going to keep growing bigger.”

Stretch smiled but there was a twinge of…almost discomfort in it, “ah, well, can’t wait to meet the little bee.”

You were going to ask him what was wrong, the real reason you came up here anyways, but your mind caught on the ‘little bee’. You squinted at him slightly, “Little…bee?”

His face blushed slightly, “oh…uh…yeah…ever since you mentioned that it felt like a fluttering when they moved i just started calling them ‘little bee’ in my head n’ you as the ‘queen bee’. i can stop?”

You felt a slow smile grow on your face to the point where it almost hurt, “That’s adorable,” you insisted, and then ran a hand over your bump, “The little bee.”

Stretch gave his adorable laugh, seeming pleased by your acceptance. The conversation lulled quickly and he turned his attention to the book. You hated to interrupt someone reading…but…you cleared your throat lightly.

“Speaking…of the baby…uh, I do have a question? Why….why do you always seem uncomfortable when I mention my pregnancy?” you asked, forcing the question out in a rush of words and hoped that he understood. Stretch blinked, looking up at you, before something akin to shame washed over his face.

“oh…uh…i…did research into pregnancy,” he said looking away, “scares me…n’ i didn’t want you to notice…sorry.”

“Why are you scared?” you asked, placing the book aside and wriggling until you were sitting up. You wanted your full attention to be on him right now. Stretch refused to meet your gaze, fiddling with the dog eared corner of his book instead.

“there’s so much that could go wrong. the thought of losing you?” Stretch paused, fingers stilling before his eyes flicked over to you. His stare was intense and you couldn’t look away, you felt something akin to deep concern flash in your chest. Just for a second. The intensity dropped and his eyes followed suit to stare at your knees instead. “n’ i don’t do blood n’ guts well. i uh…didn’t have a good time with some of the books that I read about it.”

You didn’t need to imagine to know what he was talking about. There were a lot of pregnancy books that were flowery and delightful, and other times when you were shown the stark painful reality of just what was waiting for you at the end of the pregnancy. Not all fun and games.

You’d already come to terms with all of that, after all you’d been going to the ob-gyn for long enough and asking every question you could possibly ask.

Instead of offering fluffy promises, you reached over and took his hand and squeezed it, “you don’t need to pretend to be comfortable with it for my sake. I get that human pregnancies aren’t like monster’s.”

Stretch seemed both relieved and guilty at the same time as he squeezed your hand back. “thanks.”

You squeezed his hand once more before letting go and leaning back into the beanbag chair.

The conversation quieted and the two of you fell into your normal comforting silence of reading with each other. You didn’t even notice the time passing as quickly as it did until you smelt dinner being cooked downstairs and Stretch had fallen asleep sometime since the last time you had gotten up to go to the washroom. His chin was tucked against his chest, the lollipop in his mouth barely staying where he had put it. You slowly started getting out of the bean bag to go see if whoever was cooking needed help.

Stretch’s eyes blinked open and he stretched languidly, before placing his book aside. “you headin’ out, hun?”

“Yeah, going to see if…I think it’s Papyrus’ night, right? If Papyrus needs help with dinner,” you said, stretching yourself and placing the book back on his shelf with a bookmark to let you know where you left off.

“sweet,” he said, giving a lazy wave.

Before you had gotten to the door, however, he called out to you again.

“before you go….’uh…so…there’s this…bookfair coming up that I’m going to…do…you wanna come?” he asked fiddling with his lollipop as he sat up. You smile and nod at him, and his face lit up slightly. Though, it did shift in embarrassment after a second and he glanced away and mumbled, “as….a…date?”

You nod again, “Sure! When?”

“wait, really?” he said, sounding utterly surprised, “i didn’t…i mean, you’re not uncomfortable with that?”

You shook your head that time, “I’m just taking this all step-by-step. Testing the waters sorta? I’ll double check with Red and Blue if they’re still okay with me going on dates with others, but they’ve given me their blessing before. Plus…I trust you guys. I’d like to go on a date…so I think we should.”

Stretch’s face softened, “then it’s a date. it’s two weeks from now on the weekend.”

“Great!” you said cheerfully, “I can’t wait.”


	39. Chapter 39

You’d gone shopping to pick up more baby things when you had spotted  _ them _ .

You’d never seen anything so right, so perfect. You just…had to. You couldn’t stop yourself. You rushed home afterwards, burst into the house, and strode right up to Sans. He glanced seconds before you plopped a pair of the ugliest, brightest pink crocs you had ever seen in your life into his lap. For a second, he just looked at them before his eye lights grew.

“paps, she got me outdoor shoes,” Sans called, immediately kicking off his slippers and putting on the crocs instead.

Papyrus poked his head out of the kitchen and then gave you a withering look. He put his hands on his hips, “YOU’VE GOT RUNNERS FOR OUTDOOR SHOES.”

“not anymore, these represent me in a way runners could never,” Sans said, wriggling his feet and grinning over at his brother. Papyrus sighed, shaking his head. “your smiling.”

“I AM!” Papyrus retorted, before ducking back into the kitchen to continue whatever it was he was doing. From the smell of things, he was in the middle of attempting to make homemade bread. Attempting. There was something off about the bread smell.

You finished putting the rest of your things away, a smile on your face, and as you left to go talk to Sans some more, he was gone. He…did that a lot lately. Disappear before you could really have an uninterrupted conversation with him, beyond the one about soulmates that was. He wasn’t rude about it, just didn’t let the conversation go very far before escaping in some way or another.

You  _ wanted _ to give him space but at the same time…you were a bit confused. So, even if he didn’t want to talk about it, you would let him know you were there for him, and whatever he decided to do was up to him.

So, you sought him out.

It took a while to find him, and you really only did because Papyrus noticed your aimless searching and asked you what you were looking for. Papyrus had almost a sixth sense to know where his brother was at all times, most of the brothers did.

You headed up the stairs and gently knocked on Sans’ door, “Sans…do you have a moment?” you called in quietly.

A second passed, and then Sans opened the door, “sup, kiddo?”

“Are you okay?”

Surprise flashed in his features for a moment before it became almost wry.

“hm? oh…yeah no, I’m good just yknow life,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, an easy go smiling on his face. You could tell he was lying and didn’t really know how to call him out about it. Yet, you crossed your arms, and your face must’ve been enough to call him out. He rubbed at his skull and then gestured towards the balcony. You followed him out, sitting down on the forgotten chairs that needed a good scrubbing. Sans sat down on one of the chairs, leaning back casually.

“Do you… _ want _ to talk about it?” you asked quietly, “We don’t have to?”

“eh, you deserve to know. you’re the one stuck with me as a soulmate,” Sans shrugged his shoulders again. You gave him a brisque glare that had him giving a wry laugh, “sorry, humour hasn’t been my strong suit since coming to the surface.”

“Is…does it have something to do with the multiple timelines?” you asked, and Sans nodded.

“yeah, it’s just…y’know,” Sans shrugged, “hard to talk about.”

“Have…you tried going to a therapist?” you asked, tilting your head, you held your hand out towards him in silent offering. He slipped his hand in yours, squeezing.

“nah. what am i supposed to do? tell them about all the different timelines I’ve experienced then what?” Sans said, a bit of bitterness in his voice as he slumped slightly in his chair.

“Well, they might not understand fully, but if they’re good? They’ll find a way to help you…I know a few people who are going to therapy…myself included,” you said, squeezing his hand back. His eye lights shifted over to you. You nodded at the silent question, “I’ve been going back to therapy lately to help me deal with…all of this, and it’s really helped. I haven’t really…told anyone, but I probably should? But if it will help you?”

Sans is quiet for a while, and then he quietly says, “maybe…”

You quickly added, “I’m not telling you you have to go…if you want to try, then you try. I can’t tell you to go either…I can just say that I’m here for you, Sans…and I would be even if you weren’t my soulmate.”

Sans is quiet some more, and then you leaned over and nuzzled the side of his skull. It seemed to jolt him out of his own mind. He immediately nuzzled back lightly. You smiled softly as you leaned back, “do you still wanna go to the planetarium?”

“yeah,” Sans said lightly, giving you a smile backwards.

“Whenever you wanna go, let me know. I’m always around,” you said, putting special emphasis on always. You wanted to make sure he knew you were there for him, regardless of anything else. Sans squeezed your hand again.

“will do, kiddo,” he said with a smile, “papyrus is probably almost finished making sourdough. wanna try some?”

“Sure,” you replied easily, standing up and pulling him to his feet. The ground twisted beneath you, and the two of you were in the kitchen. Papyrus smacked Sans’ hand with a spatula without even looking, scolding him for touching the bread before it’s cooled down any.

Things were…okay.

Yeah, they were okay.

Even if they weren’t, they were going to be; eventually, you just had to have patience and do what you could to make it true.

You had two boyfriends, eight soulmates, and very supportive friendships with Chara and Frisk.

Things were going to be  _ okay _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I totally just realized I missed getting to 500 comments and we're already almost at 550!!! ;A; Thank you guys so much. I love you <3

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my [tumblr](https://myownpersonaldemons.tumblr.com/) if any of you wanna chat


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